Pakistani info minister withdraws resignation
Source: Agencies |
December 26, 2011, Monday
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PAKISTAN'S information minister withdrew her resignation yesterday, hours after she offered to quit amid tensions between the civilian government and the country's powerful military over a memo alleging an army plot to seize power in May.
Information Minister Firdos Ashiq Awan made the surprise announcement at a televised cabinet meeting but Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani later persuaded her to withdraw the resignation.
"The prime minister tore down my resignation and asked me to continue my work," Awan said.
Some media reports suggested that Awan offered to resign over criticism within the ruling party over her perceived failure to defend the government in the "memogate" scandal, as it is being called in Pakistan.
Tensions have been running high between the government and the powerful army after the scandal surfaced, raising concerns for the region and for Pakistan's already uneasy relationship with its key ally, the United States.
Mansoor Ijaz, an American businessman of Pakistan origin, wrote in a column in the Financial Times on October 10 that a senior Pakistani diplomat had asked that a memo be delivered to the Pentagon with a plea for US help to stave off a military coup in the days after the raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in May.
Ijaz later identified the diplomat as Pakistan's ambassador to Washington, Husain Haqqani, who denied involvement but later resigned.
Information Minister Firdos Ashiq Awan made the surprise announcement at a televised cabinet meeting but Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani later persuaded her to withdraw the resignation.
"The prime minister tore down my resignation and asked me to continue my work," Awan said.
Some media reports suggested that Awan offered to resign over criticism within the ruling party over her perceived failure to defend the government in the "memogate" scandal, as it is being called in Pakistan.
Tensions have been running high between the government and the powerful army after the scandal surfaced, raising concerns for the region and for Pakistan's already uneasy relationship with its key ally, the United States.
Mansoor Ijaz, an American businessman of Pakistan origin, wrote in a column in the Financial Times on October 10 that a senior Pakistani diplomat had asked that a memo be delivered to the Pentagon with a plea for US help to stave off a military coup in the days after the raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in May.
Ijaz later identified the diplomat as Pakistan's ambassador to Washington, Husain Haqqani, who denied involvement but later resigned.
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