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Zardari returns to face angry military
Source: Agencies |
December 20, 2011, Tuesday
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PRESIDENT Asif Ali Zardari, who was in Dubai for medical treatment, returned yesterday to Pakistan, where tension is rising between his civilian government and the military over a memo accusing the country's generals of plotting a coup.
It's not clear when the unpopular leader, who has uneasy ties with the army, will return to work. He flew into the southern city of Karachi.
"The president is thankfully fit and healthy and that is why he has returned," Shazia Marri, information minister for Sindh province, of which Karachi is the capital, said. "However, his activities over the next few days will depend on what the doctors advise."
Zardari could be damaged by the memo, reportedly crafted by the former Pakistani ambassador to the United States.
The US wants ally Pakistan stable so it can help wind the war down in neighboring Afghanistan.
Businessman Mansoor Ijaz, in a column in the Financial Times in October, said a Pakistani diplomat had asked that a memo be delivered to the Pentagon with a plea for US help to stave off a coup in the days after Osama bin Laden was killed in Pakistan in a US raid, to the embarrassment and anger of the military.
Ijaz later identified the diplomat as Husain Haqqani, the then Pakistani ambassador to Washington who is close to Zardari.
Haqqani denied involvement in the memo but resigned over the what has been dubbed "memogate."
The Supreme Court yesterday started hearings into a petition demanding an inquiry into who was behind it. As president, Zardari is immune from prosecution but the controversy could seriously damage him politically.
If a link is proven, the military, which has long been distrustful of Zardari, could push for his ousting.
Ruling Pakistan People's Party officials have dismissed the memo as a non-issue.
"The government and the military are on the same page. There is no conflict, and no chance of any rift between state institutions," said a PPP leader who asked not to be identified. "We don't want any conflict and won't do anything which leads to that."
But army chief General Ashfaq Kayani has called for an investigation, saying the memo was an attempt to hurt national security.
About 30,000 Islamists staged a protest on Sunday to condemn the US and show support for the military, which has reasserted itself after a NATO attack and the memo.
The November 26 cross-border NATO air raid killed 24 Pakistani soldiers and plunged already troubled ties with the US to a low point.
No evidence has emerged that the army was plotting a coup and the Pentagon at the time dismissed the memo as not credible.
The military, which determines security and foreign policy, dismisses suggestions it may stage a coup but analysts say intervention could not be ruled out in the event of chaos.
Zardari was elected in 2008 on the back of a sympathy vote after his wife, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, was assassinated after returning from self-exile.
Criminal cases could haunt Zardari, who earned the title "Mr 10 Percent" while Bhutto was in power, based on allegations he demanded kickbacks on state contracts.
In 2009, the Supreme Court scrapped an amnesty law that had dismissed corruption charges against many politicians, including Zardari.
It's not clear when the unpopular leader, who has uneasy ties with the army, will return to work. He flew into the southern city of Karachi.
"The president is thankfully fit and healthy and that is why he has returned," Shazia Marri, information minister for Sindh province, of which Karachi is the capital, said. "However, his activities over the next few days will depend on what the doctors advise."
Zardari could be damaged by the memo, reportedly crafted by the former Pakistani ambassador to the United States.
The US wants ally Pakistan stable so it can help wind the war down in neighboring Afghanistan.
Businessman Mansoor Ijaz, in a column in the Financial Times in October, said a Pakistani diplomat had asked that a memo be delivered to the Pentagon with a plea for US help to stave off a coup in the days after Osama bin Laden was killed in Pakistan in a US raid, to the embarrassment and anger of the military.
Ijaz later identified the diplomat as Husain Haqqani, the then Pakistani ambassador to Washington who is close to Zardari.
Haqqani denied involvement in the memo but resigned over the what has been dubbed "memogate."
The Supreme Court yesterday started hearings into a petition demanding an inquiry into who was behind it. As president, Zardari is immune from prosecution but the controversy could seriously damage him politically.
If a link is proven, the military, which has long been distrustful of Zardari, could push for his ousting.
Ruling Pakistan People's Party officials have dismissed the memo as a non-issue.
"The government and the military are on the same page. There is no conflict, and no chance of any rift between state institutions," said a PPP leader who asked not to be identified. "We don't want any conflict and won't do anything which leads to that."
But army chief General Ashfaq Kayani has called for an investigation, saying the memo was an attempt to hurt national security.
About 30,000 Islamists staged a protest on Sunday to condemn the US and show support for the military, which has reasserted itself after a NATO attack and the memo.
The November 26 cross-border NATO air raid killed 24 Pakistani soldiers and plunged already troubled ties with the US to a low point.
No evidence has emerged that the army was plotting a coup and the Pentagon at the time dismissed the memo as not credible.
The military, which determines security and foreign policy, dismisses suggestions it may stage a coup but analysts say intervention could not be ruled out in the event of chaos.
Zardari was elected in 2008 on the back of a sympathy vote after his wife, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, was assassinated after returning from self-exile.
Criminal cases could haunt Zardari, who earned the title "Mr 10 Percent" while Bhutto was in power, based on allegations he demanded kickbacks on state contracts.
In 2009, the Supreme Court scrapped an amnesty law that had dismissed corruption charges against many politicians, including Zardari.
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