I secured US permission before I met Pasha: Ijaz

Mansoor Ijaz, the main character in Memogate case, told the judicial commission that he had obtained permission from the US government prior to his meeting with the then Director General of Inter-Services Intelligence Agency, Lieutenant General Shuja Pasha, which took place in the US.
During cross-examination by the counsel for Hussain Haqqani, Ijaz also told the judicial commission that as a private citizen of the US it was binding on him to get permission from the government before he decided to meet the intelligence official of a foreign country.
He further said that he had taken notes for memo during his telephonic talk with Haqqani. According to him, Haqqani did not know whether he (Ijaz) was taking notes. To another question, Ijaz responded that he did not require any permission from any US authority in handing over the memo to former US National Security Advisor James Jones since "both are the private citizens of the US."
In a dramatic development, Bukhari suddenly announced that he would withdraw from the proceedings of the case. He urged that his client had primarily expressed his reservations on the constitution of a judicial commission. He further claimed that he had not been properly facilitated by the commission since he started the cross-examination of the main witness. During the cross-examination of Ijaz, Bukhari had been asked by chairman of commission Justice Esa repeatedly to present or articulate his questions in a proper format and focus on the issues at hand. He even advised Bukhari that if he had a problem with him then the remaining two judges be made part of the proceedings. The counsel may record his cross-examination through other judges of the commission, according to Justice Esa.
A congenial environment was soon restored and proceedings resumed again. Haqqani successfully persuaded Bukhari to continue his cross-examination. At one point, Bukhari stated that Ijaz was very critical in his articles on Pakistan, the ISI and country's nuclear programme. Mansoor replied that he had only offered constructive criticism. According to him, Haqqani had also 'co-authored' the memo as he had agreed with his point of view. On Thursday, the memo commission gave three more days to both parties for cross-examination. Ijaz said he would not be available after Sunday and for him the matter would end that day.