Thaindian News

Islamabad, Nov 20 (IANS) Pakistan’s ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani met Asif Ali Zardari here Sunday over a secret memo to Washington claiming that the president had feared a military coup.

Geo News reported that Haqqani held talks with Zardari at the presidency.

Pakistani businessman Mansoor Ijaz alleged in a column in the Financial Times last month that a senior Pakistani diplomat asked for help in getting a message from Zardari to then chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen.

Ijaz alleged that Zardari feared a military takeover following the US raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in May and brought unprecedented public scrutiny on Pakistani leaders.

Meanwhile, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has reportedly “conclusively authenticated” the delivery of “treasonous secret memo” to Mullen.

According to the News, a key ISI official personally flew to Europe recently and met Mansoor to ascertain the authenticity of the memo.

The e-mails and other evidence produced by Mansoor prove that Haqqani had drafted the memo as well as initiated the plan, it said.

It was only after the ISI was satisfied with the evidence that the army chief decided to take up the matter with Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, the newspaper said.

However, Haqqani has denied his involvement.

Gilani had recently said in the parliament that he sought an explanation from Haqqani on the issue.

Haqqani said he has a lot of opposition in Pakistan as they do not want a civilian ambassador to serve in Washington. He did not say who are against him.

Prior to the memo issue, the Pakistan Army and the ISI were upset with Haqqani over visa issuance to Americans without “prior-scrutiny” by the Pakistani security agencies, the News added.

Before leaving Washington for Pakistan, Haqqani met US special representative to Pakistan and Afghanistan Marc Grossman.