US senators concerned about Husain Haqqani

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US senators concerned about Husain Haqqani

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Three US Senators have issued a joint statement in support of Husain Haqqani.

05 January,2012 11:35 pm

The United States Senators John McCain (R-Ariz.), Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) Thursday released a joint statement in response to reports of ongoing harassment and mistreatment of Pakistans former ambassador to the United States Husain Haqqani.Husain Haqqani returned to Pakistan in November following reports of his alleged role in the memo-gate scandal, conveyed to the then chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, through a US national, Mansoor Ijaz. He had to resign from his post as ambassador and is now facing a judicial inquiry set-up by the Supreme Court of Pakistan.“Husain Haqqani served Pakistan honourably as its ambassador to the United States. While we did not always agree with Ambassador Haqqani, and our exchange of views could be spirited at times, we always had the highest respect for him and knew he was serving his nation and government with patriotism and distinction, the senators observed.The senators expressed regret that the Pakistani people have lost a tough-minded, eloquent, and principled advocate for their nations interests now that Ambassador Haqqani has departed Washington.We are increasingly troubled by Ambassador Haqqanis treatment since he returned home to Pakistan, including the travel ban imposed on him. Like many in Washington, we are closely following Ambassador Haqqanis case. We urge Pakistani authorities to resolve this matter swiftly and consistent with civilian rule of law and to prevent the judicial commission investigating Ambassador Haqqani from becoming a political tool for revenge against an honourable man, they stressed.The Pakistani people can be proud of the service that Ambassador Haqqani has provided Pakistan, and we look forward to the day when he can once again serve the government and people of Pakistan as one of the nations finest leaders, the US senators hailed.It may be mentioned here that Ambassador Haqqani had called on Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Mike Rogers, Congressman Howard Berman and special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Marc Grossman amongst before undertaking the visit to Pakistan in Novemeber.Although no official statement was issued after these meetings, but Haqqani is believed to have expressed concern about his safety on return to Pakistan during the meetings with US legislators and officials. The US administration, on the other hand, has constantly maintained that memo-gate is Pakistans internal matter.The spokesperson of the US State Department, Victoria Nuland again expressed the same viewpoint Thursday. We have not seen the statements of the senators. We have already said that this is Pakistans internal matter, and we hope that the judicial proceedings in this case will move forward as per the international standards.-- Contributed by Awais Saleem, Dunya News correspondent in Washington, DC