Memo commission give final chance to Ijaz

By Haroon Baloch

ISLAMABAD, Jan 16: Memo commission ordered Mansoor Ijaz to be present on next hearing on Tuesday, January 24, 2012 and consider it the final chance, otherwise commission will formulate its report for the apex court on the basis of available facts.

A three-member commission headed by Chief Justice of Balochistan High Court, Qazi Faez Esa while investigating the Memogate Scandal evaluated the facts of both sides here in Islamabad High Court on Monday.

Advocate Akram Sheikh, the counsel of Mansoor Ijaz, told the honorable commission that his client has yet not received visa to travel for Pakistan because he is receiving life threats from government officials.

"Since Mansoor Ijaz is threatened of being trialed under article 6 for toppling the previous Pakistan Peoples Party government. Media published the statement of interior minister Rehman Malik's statement in this regard", Akram Sheikh told the commission while referring to the story of Jang Newspaper's dated Jan 14.

Akram Sheikh requested the commission to give leverage Mansoor Ijaz to show up till the next hearing.

The attorney general of Pakistan Maulvi Anwar ul Haq told the commission that no BlackBerry handsets were recovered from Hossain Haqqani's residence at Washington DC or the high commission.

Hossain Haqqani through his legal counsel Zahid Hussain Bukhari refused to give up his privacy to Research in Motion (RIM), but he provided with his cell numbers as well as email addresses that were in use of Haqqani while in the US.

Zahid Bukhari said that at the previous hearing on Jan 9, all demands of Mansoor Ijaz were met but he did not come to Pakistan, which was a serious violation of the commission’s orders.

Zahid Bukhari filed an application before the commission pleading that Mansoor Ijaz may not be allowed to leave Pakistan till the completion of the commission’s proceedings. The commission, however, said that he would be issued a multiple-entry visa and he would come to Pakistan whenever necessary.

The commission adjourned its proceedings till January 24, 2012 after an assurance by the legal counsel to Mansoor Ijaz, Barrister Akram Sheikh, that his client would certainly appear before the court at the next date of hearing.