Memo issue has exposed the rift between Pakistan's civilan government and its military – with allegations reaching right upto president Asif Ali Zardari. Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
The controversial American businessman at the centre of the "Memogate" scandal threatening to bring down the government of Pakistan has told the Guardian he plans to fly into the country to tell what he describes as the "unaltered truth" before the courts.
The allegations made by Mansoor Ijaz reach all the way up to President Asif Zardari, and could end up with treason charges against the country's former US ambassador, Husain Haqqani, or even the president himself. But critics say that the charges are a fantastical and thinly-veiled attempt by the military to hound the government from power, aided by the hostile courts that have taken up the case with alacrity.
Ijaz claims that in May, just after Osama bin Laden was found in Pakistan, Haqqani, whom he described as a friend, dictated to him an explosive memo that he was to deliver to the US military leadership. Haqqani allegedly told Ijaz that he was acting on the instructions of "the boss", whom Ijaz took to mean Zardari.
The anonymous missive pleaded for American help against the Pakistan army, offering to rein in the military and in particular its Inter-Services Intelligence spy agency, which has ties to the Taliban and other jihadist groups.
Ijaz later revealed the existence of the document in a newspaper column, igniting the firestorm that has been raging in Pakistani politics.
"The memo issue has brought the schism between the military and the civilians out into the open," said Arif Nizami, editor of Pakistan Today.
"You could say what we're seeing is a slow and gradual coup taking place, eating into the moral authority of the civilian government."
Amid speculation that he will be forced into exile, Zardari left for Dubai on Thursday for what was described as a one-day private visit.
The enigma of the hard-talking Ijaz, a frequent media commentator, is that he was a ferocious critic of Pakistan's military who has now turned into its greatest weapon against the government.
As he prepared to fly into Pakistan, where he is due to testify next week, Ijaz told the Guardian by phone from Switzerland that he would bring with him records of phone calls and text message exchanges with Haqqani to prove his case.
"I am coming because it is important that there be no perception left about whether I feared telling the truth on the record, whether I feared the threats, whether I feared the government and its sharp-tongued ministers, whether I feared facing Haqqani and his legal team – I'm ready for all of them.
"I intend to speak truth to power loudly," said Ijaz, a former Wall Street financier with strong connections to the American security establishment.
The furore has already claimed the scalp of Haqqani, who was forced to resign in November, even before the case was investigated. The courts have banned him from leaving the country.
There were reports in Pakistan last night that Ijaz would not show up. Ijaz insisted that he would come to Pakistan, though he hinted that it might not be on Monday, the day the court is expecting him. He also told the Guardian that he expected to testify in camera; the court has not so far said it will allow that.
On the day bin Laden was killed, Ijaz wrote that elements in the ISI had almost certainly acted as his "knowing babysitter". Yet in October, Ijaz secretly agreed to meet the ISI chief, Lieutenant-General Ahmed Shuja Pasha, at a hotel on Park Lane, London, where he shared the record of his alleged communications with Haqqani over the memo.
Ijaz said that he saw Pasha because he became concerned that he had been tricked into breaking Pakistani or American law.
"When I realised that there was something more going on here than met the eye – things that Haqqani did which made me realise this – that's when I decided the whole truth needed to be told with the same vigour that Haqqani was trying to hide it," said Ijaz, who is proud of his Pakistani ancestry.
To the fury of the government, Pasha has already told the court that he is convinced by the "corroborative material" that Ijaz showed him.
Many analysts believe that the army, reluctant to stage another coup just four years after democracy was restored, is relying on the seemingly partisan courts to throw out the government instead. The memo contained promises of action against the military that the government clearly couldn't have met.
"What we're seeing right now is farcical," said Cyril Almeida, a newspaper columnist. "A national political crisis has been engineered on the basis of an unsigned memo, the contents of which are exceedingly unrealistic but have somehow compromised national security."
The allegations made by Mansoor Ijaz reach all the way up to President Asif Zardari, and could end up with treason charges against the country's former US ambassador, Husain Haqqani, or even the president himself. But critics say that the charges are a fantastical and thinly-veiled attempt by the military to hound the government from power, aided by the hostile courts that have taken up the case with alacrity.
Ijaz claims that in May, just after Osama bin Laden was found in Pakistan, Haqqani, whom he described as a friend, dictated to him an explosive memo that he was to deliver to the US military leadership. Haqqani allegedly told Ijaz that he was acting on the instructions of "the boss", whom Ijaz took to mean Zardari.
The anonymous missive pleaded for American help against the Pakistan army, offering to rein in the military and in particular its Inter-Services Intelligence spy agency, which has ties to the Taliban and other jihadist groups.
Ijaz later revealed the existence of the document in a newspaper column, igniting the firestorm that has been raging in Pakistani politics.
"The memo issue has brought the schism between the military and the civilians out into the open," said Arif Nizami, editor of Pakistan Today.
"You could say what we're seeing is a slow and gradual coup taking place, eating into the moral authority of the civilian government."
Amid speculation that he will be forced into exile, Zardari left for Dubai on Thursday for what was described as a one-day private visit.
The enigma of the hard-talking Ijaz, a frequent media commentator, is that he was a ferocious critic of Pakistan's military who has now turned into its greatest weapon against the government.
As he prepared to fly into Pakistan, where he is due to testify next week, Ijaz told the Guardian by phone from Switzerland that he would bring with him records of phone calls and text message exchanges with Haqqani to prove his case.
"I am coming because it is important that there be no perception left about whether I feared telling the truth on the record, whether I feared the threats, whether I feared the government and its sharp-tongued ministers, whether I feared facing Haqqani and his legal team – I'm ready for all of them.
"I intend to speak truth to power loudly," said Ijaz, a former Wall Street financier with strong connections to the American security establishment.
The furore has already claimed the scalp of Haqqani, who was forced to resign in November, even before the case was investigated. The courts have banned him from leaving the country.
There were reports in Pakistan last night that Ijaz would not show up. Ijaz insisted that he would come to Pakistan, though he hinted that it might not be on Monday, the day the court is expecting him. He also told the Guardian that he expected to testify in camera; the court has not so far said it will allow that.
On the day bin Laden was killed, Ijaz wrote that elements in the ISI had almost certainly acted as his "knowing babysitter". Yet in October, Ijaz secretly agreed to meet the ISI chief, Lieutenant-General Ahmed Shuja Pasha, at a hotel on Park Lane, London, where he shared the record of his alleged communications with Haqqani over the memo.
Ijaz said that he saw Pasha because he became concerned that he had been tricked into breaking Pakistani or American law.
"When I realised that there was something more going on here than met the eye – things that Haqqani did which made me realise this – that's when I decided the whole truth needed to be told with the same vigour that Haqqani was trying to hide it," said Ijaz, who is proud of his Pakistani ancestry.
To the fury of the government, Pasha has already told the court that he is convinced by the "corroborative material" that Ijaz showed him.
Many analysts believe that the army, reluctant to stage another coup just four years after democracy was restored, is relying on the seemingly partisan courts to throw out the government instead. The memo contained promises of action against the military that the government clearly couldn't have met.
"What we're seeing right now is farcical," said Cyril Almeida, a newspaper columnist. "A national political crisis has been engineered on the basis of an unsigned memo, the contents of which are exceedingly unrealistic but have somehow compromised national security."
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