ISLAMABAD: Media Adviser to the President Farahnaz Ispahani, who is also the wife of Pakistan's Ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani, on Monday defended her husband and said the pair is ready to face legal action pertaining to the memo controversy.

Ispahani said she and her husband want “an investigation” into the matter and were ready to cooperate in the forensic investigation of Husain Haqqani's blackberry phone and computer.

"Whatever guidance is given to us by our senior leadership, we will take it, but personally if the senior leadership allows us, we will go in for libel," she added.

She expressed these views while talking to the media outside the Supreme Court on Monday.

While raising doubts over the credibility of the Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz who claims that Haqqani asked him to deliver the memo to Adm Mike Mullen in May this year, she said that Haqqani was prepared to sue Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz, who has claimed the memo was drafted and delivered on the envoy's instructions.

She described Ijaz as “a citizen of another country” whose allegations “make me believe he is working against Pakistan's democracy” and added, "He is a foreign national who is blaming us and attacking Pakistans democracy."

Turning down that the allegations were baseless, she said that they were not scared of the issue and were not fleeing Dubai or Washington, vowing that the pair is ready for Pakistani and American courts because they have nothing to hide.

Ijaz hit out at the ambassador on challenging the authenticity of the memo and ruled out any missing links in the authenticity chain, adding that he was a wealthy individual who handles his own investments and would sue anyone for slandering against him.

Local media reports implicated Haqqani in a memo allegedly sent from Zardari to Mullen, the United States top military officer, after the US raid that killed Osama bin Laden on May 2, sought American assistance to stave off a possible military coup.

The alleged memo, released last month by Ijaz, said that a new national security team in Pakistan    with US support    could end ties between Pakistani intelligence and militants.

Opinion

Editorial

Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...
New terror wave
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

New terror wave

The time has come for decisive government action against militancy.
Development costs
27 Mar, 2024

Development costs

A HEFTY escalation of 30pc in the cost of ongoing federal development schemes is one of the many decisions where the...
Aitchison controversy
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

Aitchison controversy

It is hoped that higher authorities realise that politics and nepotism have no place in schools.