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President Zardari says he’s willing to face any challenge
No threat of judicial, military coup, says Gilani
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Afridi’s five leads rout of Bangladesh PAGE 20
pakistantoday.com.pk
rs15.00 vol ii no 156 32 pages lahore edition
Friday, 2 december, 2011 muharram-ul-Haram 6, 1433
Battle lines drawn
Memo a bid against Case is a conspiracy sovereignty: SC against Zardari: PPP Seeks replies from president, COAS, ISI chief within 15 days g Forms enquiry commission headed by former FIA chief, tells Haqqani not to leave country g Nawaz tells court he has lost trust in parliament
Party says Nawaz conspiring to get president tried for treason g Babar Awan says govt will not surrender its authority to form commissions g Zardari holds meeting with PPP ministers to discuss court orders
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ISLAMABAD
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MASOOD REHMAN
n a dramatic development, the memogate case, which had seemingly been overshadowed by Saturday’s nAtO/iSAF attack in Mohmand Agency, resurfaced with a bang on thursday as the Supreme Court, admitting the petitions for a regular hearing, observed that the memo seemed to be an attempt on the sovereignty of the country, sought replies from the president, the army chief and the inter-Services intelligence (iSi) chief within 15 days and formed an enquiry commission with a direction to the Parliamentary Committee on national Security to forward all details of the issue to the commission. the apex court appointed former Federal investigation Agency (FiA) director general tariq Khosa the head of the commission to collect evidence in the memo issue and told him to submit his report within three weeks. the court directed all the provincial governments and the security agencies as well as Pakistan’s missions abroad to cooperate with the commission in collection of evidence. the court also empowered the commission to seek assistance of any retired police officers to complete the task. the Cabinet Division was also told to provide full logistical support to the commission. the mood of the court with regard to the case was clear from the very outset with the remarks and the observations of the judges - who were apparently convinced that a conspiracy against the state and the army had been hatched - as Chief Justice iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, who was heading the nine-member bench hearing the case, noted that interior Minister Rehman Malik had reportedly stated that a communication did take place between Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US husain haqqani and
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif leaves the Supreme Court on Thursday after attending the hearing on his petition filed against the memo scandal. The Pakistan People’s Party alleged that Nawaz was conspiring against President Asif Ali Zardari and wanted to get him tried for treason. afp Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor ijaz. HAQQANI: the court told haqqani not to leave the country, observing that the interior and Foreign Ministry would be responsible if he did. the court told the government that a special prosecutor general should be tasked with collecting pre-trial evidence from the persons involved in the matter as well as the other parties concerned to determine the legal status of the memo along with the reasons that necessitated its writing. Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul haq told the court that in response to a parliamentary resolution and on orders from the prime minister, the matter of the memo was sent to a 14-member Parliamentary Committee on national Security, which would begin examining the matter after Muharram, thus the matter may be referred to it. the court held that although it did not
differ from the mandate of parliament, the committee had no constitutional mandate to investigate the issue. to a court query, the attorney general stated that the issue could be investigated under the Army Act but the court said if the committee had any evidence, it should hand it over to the enquiry commission. the chief justice observed that the court could not compromise on the sovereignty and defence of the country. After hearing Pakistan Muslim Leaguenawaz (PML-n) President nawaz Sharif, who had once appeared in court as an accused in the 1990s, the court accepted the pleas for regular hearing under Continued on page 04
legal experts divided on presidential immunity | page 21
ithin hours of the Supreme Court’s orders on the memo controversy on thursday, defiant Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leaders questioned the impartiality of the superior judiciary, saying Pakistan Muslim League-nawaz (PML-n) President nawaz Sharif was conspiring to get President Asif Ali Zardari tried for treason but the government would never surrender its authority of forming commissions. “Memogate will be defended in court and the government will continue the probe through the Parliamentary Committee on national Security and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani will brief the committee today on the memo controversy,” former law minister Dr Babar Awan told reporters at a crowded press conference along with information Minister Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, Religious Affairs Minister Syed Khurshid Shah and PPP information Secretary Qamar Zaman Kaira. “there is a law under which forming any commission is a prerogative of the executive. Until we are in power, we will not surrender the authority of the executive and parliament,” he said, clearly hinting that the government would not implement the court orders to form a commission to probe the controversy. ZARDARI HOLDS MEETING: Earlier, after the court orders, Awan briefed President Zardari on the court proceedings. Later, the prime minister also joined the meeting. During the meeting it was also decided that the leadership of the coalition government would be consulted.
Strike without permission, Kayani tells troops g
Army chief suspends chain of command system to allow officers to take timely action against aggression ISLAMABAD SHAIq HuSSAIN
Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Kayani has directed the ranks and cadres of military to give befitting response to any foreign aggression and take a decision in this regard on the spot as the “command of chain system” has been suspended owing to serious circumstances in the wake of recent nAtO strikes on Pakistani border posts in Mohmand Agency, which killed 24 soldiers. the attack by nAtO on Saturday, which is dubbed as “intentional and deliberate” by the civilian and military leadership, has led to great anguish and anger among the ranks of the armed forces and it has been decided not to tolerate such assault in future and give it befitting response.
General Kayani held a crucial meeting with his military commanders a day after the nAtO strike at the General headquarters (GhQ) but its details were not shared with the media. After the meeting, the army chief sent a letter to the armed forces in which important decisions taken at GhQ were conveyed to them. in accordance with the decisions, there would be no need to follow the army’s command and chain system and any official or soldier, at any particular place, would be allowed to take a decision on his own without waiting for the orders from the top so that any aggression from outside would be matched. “the decision has been made owing to the breaking down of the communication system as result of the nAtO strike on the Pakistani border post in Mohmand Agency,” an official said.
MIAN ABRAR
the nAtO strike, which was unexpected, led to a great loss of life as the army was not anticipating any such aggression from its allies and the Pakistani soldiers were taken aback. “the army chief in the meeting declared that no foreign aggression would be allowed in future and all possible measures are being taken to defend the country,” the official said. Apart from doing away with the command and chain system, some other important steps are also being taken such as reinforcement of troops on the Pakistani side of the border and also to increase the surveillance flights of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) on the country’s border with Afghanistan.
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