ISLAMABAD, Nov 9: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has welcomed Interior Minister Lt-Gen (Rtd) Moinuddin Haider’s statement that former army chief Gen Mirza Aslam Beg and ISI chief Gen (Rtd) Hameed Gul should be held accountable for their creation of Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) in 1988.

Appealing to the Supreme Court to hear the cases related to the ISI’s involvement in distribution of funds among IJI component parties, PPP leader Maj-Gen (Rtd) Naseerullah Khan Babar on Friday said Mr Haider had vindicated what the PPP had been saying all along.

He hoped that Mr Haider would stand by his words and proceed with the prosecution of the generals who violated their oath and acted unlawfully by indulging in politics and thwarting the democratic process.

Gen Babar said the former ISI chief had claimed in the past that the IJI was formed because the army at that time feared that if Benazir Bhutto returned to power she would avenge the execution of her father.

He said the PPP had always believed that it had been an individual act of the ex-ISI chief. Now Mr Haider had also confirmed that the former ISI chief misused his authority and created a political alliance of religious parties to defeat the PPP in the 1988 general elections, he added.—PPI