KARACHI: The central character of the memogate scandal, American businessman Mansoor Ijaz, claimed that he would prove to Pakistani courts that Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani invited the US to intervene in matters relating to Pakistan’s military, DawnNews reported on Friday.
In a telephone interview from Switzerland to the Guardian newspaper, Ijaz said he was prepared to fly to Pakistan and would take with him records of phone calls and text message exchanges with the former ambassador 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," the Guardian quoted Ijaz as saying.
Ijaz said he would go to Pakistan but hinted that it might not be on Monday, the day he is expected to appear in court.
He also told the Guardian that he was ready to prove the allegations in front of the media.
Ijaz also admitted that he met with the ISI chief at a London hotel to discuss the ‘memo’ issue.
The US businessman moreover said that he met Pasha because he feared 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," Ijaz told the Guardian.
Dear visitor, the comments section is undergoing an overhaul and will return soon.