---- Judicial commission on Memogate submits report
---- Zardari questioned for giving an 'extremely sensitive' job to him
---- Findings could exacerbate Pakistan's miserable relations with the US
---- Report based on 'dubious' claims from 'a foreigner': Haqqani
"It has been incontrovertibly established that the Memorandum was authentic and Mr Haqqani was the originator and architect of the Memorandum. Mr Haqqani sought American help; he also wanted to create a niche for himself making himself forever indispensable to the Americans. He lost sight of the fact that he is a Pakistani citizen and Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States of America, and therefore his loyalty could only be to Pakistan," the report's findings said.
Its findings also said: "Mr Haqqani by offering his services as part of a proposed 'national security team' to a foreign government, voicing the 'great fears' that 'Pakistan's nuclear assets are now legitimate targets' and thus seeking to bring 'Pakistan's nuclear assets under a more verifiable, transparent regime,' stating that ISI maintains 'relations to the Taliban' and offering to 'eliminate Section S of the ISI and to help ' pigeon - hole the forces lined up against your interests' created fissures in the body politic and were acts of disloyalty to Pakistan, that contravened the Constitution of Pakistan.
The court on 30th December, 2011 constituted a Commission headed by Justice Qazi Faez Isa, Chief Justice Balochistan High Court and comprised Justice Iqbal Hameed-ur-Rehman, Chief Justice Islamabad High Court, Justice Mushir Alam Chief Justice Sindh High Court, while Raja Jawwad Abbas Hassan, District & Sessions Judge, Islamabad was appointed as Secretary to the Commission."
The Commission submitted its report in a sealed cover along with five sealed envelopes and the details of proceedings conducted by the Commission. The chief justice unsealed the report in the open court and handed over it to the Attorney General for reading the final conclusion/findings of the Commission.
"The purpose of the Memorandum was to show that the civilian government was friends of America, but needed to be strengthened to prevail upon the army and the intelligence agencies, and to be able to do so American help was required to set up a civilian national security team, to be headed by Haqqani.
"There can be no two views that terrorism must be contested, terrorists fought, nuclear proliferation opposed, civilians (and not the military) determine foreign policy and the ship of State guided by civilian hands at the helm; however, what is not acceptable is for Pakistan's Ambassador to beseech a foreign government to with impunity meddle in and run our affairs.
"We may observe that Haqqani has chosen not to live in Pakistan, has been working in the USA, where he appeared to have made his life, held no property or asset in Pakistan, held no money (save a paltry amount) in a Pakistani bank, but despite having no obvious ties to Pakistan was appointed to the extremely sensitive position of Pakistan's Ambassador to the USA, and in addition to being paid a salary and accompanying emoluments was handed a largesse of over an amount of two million dollars a year."
After it read the report, the SC observed that the commission was constituted in pursuance of a judicial order passed by this Court; its final conclusion and findings had also been read over by the Attorney General, therefore, formally the court directed to make this report public.
The court asked the SC office to prepare the extra copies of the report for supplying to the respondents as well as the learned Attorney General. However, the petitioners, members of the media and general public were required to obtain copies of the same according to the Supreme Court Rules.
"Prima facie it seems that Mr Hussain Haqqani, former Ambassador of Pakistan in USA has to answer about the findings so recorded by the Commission. He was allowed to leave the country with the commitment vide order 30.1.2012 that whenever the Court requires, he will appear in person within a period of four days, therefore, we direct his presence on the next date of hearing, which shall be intimated by the office according to the rules," it said.
The court further observed that "as far as remaining sealed envelopes containing documents, noted above, are concerned, same are ordered to be kept in the safe custody of the Registrar and any of them shall be opened, if need be, during the proceedings of the case".
A nine-member bench led by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and also comprising Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan, Justice Jawwad S Khawaja, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, Justice Tariq Parvez, Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa, Justice Amir Hani Muslim, Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry and Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed was hearing constitutional petition regarding the alleged Memorandum to Admiral Mike Mullen by Haqqani. After issuing notices to all respondents, the court adjourned hearing of the case for a period of two weeks.
AFP adds: Pakistan's ex-ambassador to Washington was summoned by the country's top court on Tuesday as judges determined he sought US help to curb the power of the military after Osama bin Laden's death.
A judicial commission set up by the Supreme Court has spent six months investigating an unsigned document received in May 2011 by the then US top military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, just days after bin Laden was killed in Pakistan. Its findings could further exacerbate Pakistan's miserable relations with the United States, reeling over a blockade on Nato supplies to Afghanistan, the sentencing of the doctor who helped the CIA find bin Laden and accusations of support for insurgents.
President Asif Ali Zardari reportedly feared that the military might seize power in a bid to limit the damaging fallout after Navy SEALs killed bin Laden in the garrison city of Abbottabad, not far from Islamabad, on May 2, 2011. The memo fanned controversy in Pakistan for allegedly enlisting US help to overhaul Pakistan's security leadership as relations with the US deteriorated, and tensions between civilians and the military, which has ruled the country for half its existence.
Husain Haqqani, who was forced to resign as ambassador last November and who has been a staunch critic of the military's power in Pakistan, denies any wrongdoing. On Tuesday, he dismissed the commission report as "political and one-sided". But the commission's 600-page report held him responsible, accused him of disloyalty to Pakistan and said he had violated the constitution.
"Mr Haqqani was the originator and architect of the memorandum. Mr Haqqani sought American help; he also wanted to create a niche for himself making himself forever indispensable to the Americans," said a copy of Tuesday's ruling. It was unacceptable for a Pakistani ambassador "to beseech a foreign government to with impunity meddle in and run our affairs," it said. His "acts of disloyalty to Pakistan," it said, had contravened the country's constitution.
It also questioned Zardari's decision to give an "extremely sensitive" job to a man who had been living in the United States with "no obvious ties to Pakistan". The court adjourned for two weeks and ordered Haqqani, along with witness, American businessman Mansoor Ijaz, and the petitioners, including former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, to appear when the hearing resumes. No date for the hearing was announced.
Haqqani, who has since returned to life as an academic at Boston University, refused to travel to Pakistan last time he was asked to appear before the commission. In a statement, he said the report was based on "dubious" claims from "a foreigner" and accused the commission of failing to hear his side of the case, by denying him the possibility of giving evidence by video link.
"In any case, the commission was created as a fact-finding body and not as a trial court so it has no right to pronounce anyone guilty or innocent of any crime," he said in a statement. "Similarly, the Supreme Court of Pakistan cannot act as a trial court and must not abuse its authority as the court of final appeal to divert attention from the embarrassment of its politicised leadership," he added.
It remains unclear what will happen in two weeks. Lawyers in Pakistan have suggested that the commission's report could pave the way to Haqqani being put on trial for treason, if only in absentia. "Disloyalty to Pakistan and contravening the constitution are serious offences and could lead to the awarding of the death sentence," Mohammad Tayyab, a Supreme Court lawyer told AFP. "But first a case has to be registered against him, then investigations carried out, a trial will commence and then there will be a conviction or an acquittal," he said.