President Zardari approved OBL raid: Mansoor Ijaz

LONDON: Mansoor Ijaz, the central character in the memo scandal started the second day of his cross-examination of his last week’s statement by dropping a bombshell claim that President Asif Ali Zardari had told Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Kayani that the US raid to kill Osama bin laden was conducted with his approval.

Ijaz also confirmed that Ansar Abbasi’s report in the Pakistan editions of The News on Friday has the same data, logs and entries that “I received on 9th May from one of my sources.”

Bin Laden was killed by US Navy seals, who intruded into Pakistani airspace to launch the raid on a three-story compound in Abbottabad in the night between May 1 and 2.

Ijaz told The News that the data he had submitted to a judicial commission investigating the memo scandal, contained the same information what The News story has revealed, but also there was some additional information.

When asked to name the individuals, referred to as two senior officers, who allegedly spoke on the night of the May 2 raid, while the bin Laden operation was in progress, he replied: “As far as I know it was Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani and President Asif Ali Zardari.”

Elaborating, he added: “I can confirm that the two people that are referred to in the document are, as I understood, after reading carefully the transcript that I have, they were Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani, who received a call from and President Asif Ali Zardari, essentially asking him to stand the F-16s down that were scrambled to take care of the US choppers present in Pakistani airspace. As far as I know it was General Kayani and President Zardari in that conversation.”

When asked by The News if he had any knowledge of what was discussed by President Zardari and Gen Kayani in the morning, he replied: “That is not for me to say, please ask your President that question.”

According to his document, the May 2 entry at 1:40 says: “Office of one senior person again received a call from the office of another senior person that no adventure should be undertaken as the operation was done with his approval. A senior person gives the message that ‘there are few things that I would personally brief you in the morning and nothing should be done now. F-16s should be called back’.”

Meanwhile, the judicial commission tasked with probing memogate has summoned Husain Haqqani to its next meeting on March 15 and has directed the government of Pakistan to provide the phone bills of the former ambassador Hussain Haqqani.

At the end of the second day of cross-questioning. Mansoor Ijaz told Pakistani media that judges at the judicial commission “are absolutely adamant to getting to the truth and they have done a fantastic job”.

“They have allowed every relevant fact to come out. They have given the opposing side every opportunity to cross-question me and I look forward to face more questioning in two weeks”.

He said he will be available from 15th March for 3-4 days for cross-examination.

Mansoor Ijaz was delighted that the Commission judge had passed the “specific and comprehensive order” for Mr Haqqani to produce his telephone bills, Blackberry handsets and other forms of evidence to refute Ijaz’s claims.

“If Hussain Haqqani had any love for the people of Pakistan, his country and the for its justice system then he should just stand up and admit his role in the Memorandum matter and it will be all over in the next minute. He is compelled to come to Pakistan, if he is a law abiding citizen of Pakistan.”

Answering a question, Ijaz said he was not pressured at any stage by by the US government to do “one thing or the other”. He revealed that his lawyers discussed with the US government “what I will say to the commission and in which configuration and I was open with my govt that I will not do anything that compromises the US national interest”.”

“I have always protected the interests of my country and I understand that we have a policy of engagement with that country (Pakistan). I have not said or done anything that would put the interests of my country at risk.”

He sounded a clear threat to Interior Minister Rehman Malik, who refused to provide adequate security to Mansoor Ijaz when he was originally asked to appear before the commission in Pakistan.

The American-Pakistani tycoon said: “Rehman Malik is a person who casts stones at others forgetting how many stones are sitting in his own back pocket. Malik is going to hear from us when all is done with this case. I am not done with him yet.”

Mansoor Ijaz said his policy has been to be “open and candid and that the way I have lived my life”. In contrast, he said, Haqqani’s way has been to “hide in shadows”.

He said the reason why Haqqani has been reclusive in America could be that he has been stopped from speaking by Pakistani government or maybe his friends in the USA has persuaded him against speaking out.

“However, there is one hard reality and it is that I have put the truth on record. Haqqani can deny it and prove or admit his guilt and that’s the end of the matter. Or he can argue with me but he knows he is gonna lose that argument.”