Army chief sees deep conspiracy: Pasha says satisfied with evidence provided by Ijaz

In his reply to Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday in 'Memogate controversy' Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani declared 'memo' as a reality, saying a conspiracy was being hatched against the army and the national security, according to sources.
Kayani said that he was informed about DG ISI Lieutenant General Pasha's meeting with Mansoor Ijaz on October 24 and Pasha was of the opinion that there was enough evidence to validate the authenticity of the memo. Kayani said the DG ISI told him that there was evidence which illustrated that Ijaz was in touch with Husain Haqqani from May 9 to 11 when they exchanged text messages and phone calls.
He further contended that on October 28, the spokespersons for the Foreign Affairs Ministry and Presidency denied the memo in separate statements. He said Admiral Mike Mullen through his spokesperson first denied the receipt of the memo on November 8 but a few days later reversed his stance.
Kayani stated that on November 13, during a meeting with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani: "I advised that those points of the memo which were leaked, were 'very sensitive' and asked for a decision on it being real or not". According to the reply, Kayani insisted the Prime Minister to summon Haqqani so that he could brief the country's leadership about the matter.
"I told the Prime Minister that time was limited and the sooner we find out facts the better it would be," Kayani said in his reply. He said on November 15, he (Kayani) was called by the President for a meeting at 2pm, adding that the PM had already informed President Zardari about his (Kayani) recommendations over the memo issue.
He said the President informed him that the decision to summon Haqqani had already been made. He said on November 21, US General James Jones confirmed that he had delivered the memo to Mullen. He said he was part of a meeting which also included the prime minister, the president and the DG ISI on November 22. "It was during this meeting that Haqqani briefed all of them and Prime Minister Gilani asked Haqqani's resignation and ordered an investigation".
At the end of the reply, Kayani wrote that there was enough evidence validating the memo and there should be a full review to evaluate the circumstances and facts behind it. He said the memo tried to decrease the morale of the Pakistan Army but remained unsuccessful. ISI Director General Ahmad Shuja Pasha's reply: In his four-page reply over the memo controversy, ISI Director General Ahmad Shuja Pasha stated that he was satisfied with evidence provided by Mansoor Ijaz. Pasha added Ijaz would not have been able to write that article in Financial Times without having evidence about the memo, adding that the article was part of a never-ending propaganda against ISI.
He requested the SC to summon Mansoor Ijaz and direct him to produce proof of the matter. Without proof, no one could go in such a high level controversy in his article, he added. The ISI chief prayed the court to summon Blackberry data and computer of Husain Haqqani and order a forensic examination. He assured the SC in his reply that he was ready to cooperate with the commission to be constituted by the SC on the memo issue, adding that he had met Mansoor Ijaz on October 22 in London to know the facts.
Pasha contended that he came to know about Ijaz's article through the media wing of ISI, saying ISI was in forefront in the security of the state. He stated that he had urged the President in his meeting with him that memo issue should be taken seriously.
In response to Supreme Court's December 1 order in 'Memogate' controversy, except for President Asif Ali Zardari, Secretaries Cabinet Division, Defence Ministry and Law and Justice Ministry almost all other respondent including army chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani and ISI chief Lieutenant General Ahmad Shuja Pasha, submitted their replies in the Supreme Court on Thursday through Attorney General for Pakistan Maulvi Anwarul Haq.