Memogate: Ejaz testifies before judicial panel

Islamabad The businessman who claimed that Pakistan's president sought US help to avert a possible coup last year testified before the commission probing his account.

Pakistani-American Mansour Ejaz, who refused to travel to Pakistan because of security concerns, gave his statement through a video link from Pakistan's high commission in London.

Pakistan's Supreme Court on December 30 had ordered a judicial commission to probe allegations by Ejaz that President Asif Ali Zardari's former envoy to the US, Hussain Haqqani, sent a memo to senior Pentagon officials seeking help to prevent any military power grab after the US raid that killed Osama Bin Laden in May.

Evidence presented

Ejaz yesterday showed the commission's members evidence to back up his allegations, the Geo TV reported, including BlackBerry messages exchanged with Haqqani. The former envoy's lawyer said he would "object to the method being used" to record Ejaz's statement. "I want to cross examine him. You can't do that in a proper way in a video conference," Zahid Bukhari told reporters Wednesday.

Confrontation

The dispute over the memo triggered the sharpest civil-military confrontation since army rule ended in 2008. Zardari opposed the judicial inquiry while military chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani supported it.

Tensions eased after Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani retracted remarks in which he accused generals of violating the constitution by submitting their statements on Ejaz's claims directly to the Supreme Court rather than through his government.

Haqqani, who was forced to resign over the memo, and the government denies involvement in its drafting or delivery.