Memogate scam: SC directs NAB to take steps for Hussain Haqqani's return
Mian Saqib Nisar remarked that Haqqani had submitted an affidavit in the court regarding his return.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday has directed National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to take steps for the return of Pakistan’s former ambassador to the United States Hussain Haqqani.
During the hearing of memogate scandal, Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan said he has been told that Haqqani cannot be brought back to the country under the law of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar remarked that Haqqani had submitted an affidavit in the court regarding his return. However, he didn’t come to attend the hearing despite assurance, he added.
According to ‘amicus curiae’ (friend of the court) Ahmer Bilal Soofi, NAB is notified department under the rules of United Nations.
The Memogate controversy revolves around a memorandum allegedly drafted by Haqqani at the behest of former president Asif Ali Zardari and addressed to US Admiral Mike Mullen.
Haqqani was criticised by the Pakistani parliament for his column in The Washington Post in which he had written that he had helped US forces in eliminating al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden when the government and the Inter-Services Intelligence had been kept in the dark about the secret operation.
Charges brought against the ex-envoy include criminal conspiracy and waging a war against Pakistan.
Haqqani had left Pakistan on January 3, 2013, after assuring the court that he would return on a four-day notice. He, however, did not return and on June 4, 2013, the court had directed the government to bring him back.
