ISLAMABAD: A special court on Friday issued perpetual arrest warrants for former ambassador of Pakistan to the United States Hussain Haqqani.

The court issued the warrants at the request of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for Mr Haqqani’s alleged involvement in a $2 million embezzlement case.

The FIA investigation officer (IO) informed the court that Mr Haqqani was deliberately not appearing before the court. He said he had completed the process of proclamation and pasted the court orders on Mr Haqqani’s residence in Clifton, Karachi, asking Mr Haqqani to appear before the court.

Former ambassador to United States is reportedly involved in a $2m embezzlement case

The acting judge of the Special Court, Central, Iram Niazi, issued the perpetual arrest warrants for Mr Haqqani after the IO’s report.

The Supreme Court, while hearing the Memogate case, had directed the FIA to bring Mr Haqqani back to the country. The former Pakistan envoy to the US flew out of the country amid the Memogate controversy.

The Supreme Court had directed Mr Haqqani to appear before the court in connection with the Memogate case, but the former Pakistan ambassador failed to comply with the SC orders.

The memo in question, delivered to a high-ranking American official allegedly at Mr Haqqani’s behest in May 2011, had exposed serious rifts between the Pakistan Peoples Party government and the army after a US-based businessman Mansoor Ijaz brought it to light.

The memo had sought the United States help for the PPP government against the military because of domestic turmoil triggered by a US raid on the Abbottabad hideout of Al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden.

Mr Haqqani, however, had denied having anything to do with the memo.

Published in Dawn, October 6th, 2018