Qureshi says he left Pak Foreign Ministry over fears of pressure to forge Davis’ papers
February 23rd, 2011 - 6:10 pm ICT by ANIIslamabad, Feb 23(ANI): Former Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that he had refused to accept the Foreign Ministry -during the recent cabinet shuffle- because he feared that the government would force him to forge documents to prove that double murder accused Raymond Davis was a US diplomat.
In his first speech in the National Assembly after losing the Foreign Ministry, Qureshi said that some top government officials have “grossly mishandled” the Davis case.
He also ridiculed critics in the media who, he said, once blamed him for being “too lenient” to the Americans during negotiations on the Kerry-Lugar bill and and now accused him of being anti-US.
“These are double standards…I fail to understand what they are up to,” the Express Tribune quoted Qureshi, as saying.
Qureshi was not among the 22 ministers sworn in on February 11 as part of the ‘right-sized’ cabinet, that was put together in place of the over-sized ministry of the past three years.
The 54-year-old was apparently also offered the Water and Power Ministry, but he rejected it.
Hina Rabbani Khar, former Finance Minister, has been given the charge of Foreign Ministry. (ANI)
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Tags: cabinet shuffle, diplomat, double murder, fears, finance minister, foreign minister, foreign ministry, government officials, kerry, mahmood qureshi, national assembly, negotiations, pakistan, power ministry, raymond davis, shah mahmood, water and power