ISLAMABAD: Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz disclosed that the-then PPP government had empowered Hussain Haqqani, the Pakistani ambassador to the US at the time, to directly issue visas to Americans, and said the matter should be investigated properly.

Winding up a debate in the Senate on an adjournment motion about an article written by Mr Haqqani recently, Mr Aziz said the interior ministry wrote a letter to the former ambassador on July 16, 2010, authorising him to issue ‘diplomatic’ visas to Americans without referring the matter to the ministry or the security agencies.

This, he said, marked a significant policy change. As a result, the number of visas issued to the Americans increased substantially, jumping to 2,487 from 1,659 within six months since the issuance of the letter.

Mr Haqqani made a misstatement on the issue of visas when he got his statement recorded by the Abbo­ttabad Commission, alleged the prime minister’s adviser. He, however, described the former ambassador as a willing instrument used by the-then political leadership of the country.

Mr Aziz proposed the formation of a parliamentary committee that would investigate the matter thoroughly. He added that the government would cooperate fully with such a committee.

At this, Senate chairman Raza Rabbani said the decision on whether or not such a committee should be formed would be taken by parliament.

The Senate chairman also alleged that former president Pervez Musharraf had allowed the Americans to use the cargo gate of the Benazir Bhutto International Airport to enter Pakistan without visas.

It should also be determined where the operatives of the “spider group” formed by Mr Musharraf came from.

Although the agen­cies finally prevailed in having their say in such matters, a lot of Americans had by then entered the country without visas, said Mr Rabbani.

Retired Lt Gen Abdul Qayyum, who had moved the adjournment motion, said the manner in which the army was kept out of the loop needed to be looked into. He described Mr Haqqani’s book “Pakistan: between mosque and military” as a venomous diatribe against the army.

He also talked about the former ambassador’s role in the passage of the Kerry-Lugar bill and the Memogate scam. He was of the opinion that Mr Haqqani had opposed the supply of F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan, fearing that these could be used against India.

He said it was strange that a man of dubious credentials was appointed as the country’s ambassador in one of the most important countries in the world.

About the visas episode, Mr Qayyum said it needed to be seen whether it was the failure of the interior ministry, foreign office, defence ministry or the country’s embassy in Washington which was responsible for the fiasco.

For his part, PPP Senator Farhatullah Babar said there was no confession and no revelation in Mr Haqqani’s article. But a hype was being created deliberately about it in order to malign the-then president Asif Ali Zardari.

“This is obvious from the very wording of the motion, which is ‘facilitation of CIA agents to enter Pakistan with the approval of the leadership of the ruling party at the time’,” he said.

“I hold no brief for Haq­qani; he is now an independent scholar and researcher. He is no longer with the PPP and the party has already distanced itself from him. I also do not agree with many of his views but I cannot allow this tirade against Asif Zardari,” said Mr Babar. He claimed that the visas in question had been issued after the laid-down procedure had been followed and were issued by neither President Zardari nor prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

He suggested that the report of the Abbottabad Commis­sion be made public to resolve once and for all how the visas had been issued and by whom.

Senator Babar said it was not uncommon for former ambassadors, presidents, prime ministers and other public officials to write books and articles which were not in line with the official policy.

He said that in his book entitled “Between dreams and realities” Mr Aziz had said that personnel of Pakistan Army had crossed the Line of Control during the Kargil war and that the civilian government had not been informed about the move beforehand.

Mr Babar said that Mr Aziz deserved to be praised for speaking the truth but added that there shouldn’t be double standards in commenting on books and articles by different people.

Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2017