Islamabad: Differences between the government and the military over a memo scandal have come to light with the former requesting the Supreme Court to dismiss petitions on the issue and the latter calling for a thorough investigation.
Ahead of the next hearing on the petitions by a nine-judge bench scheduled for Monday, the respondents including chief of army staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani and head of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt Gen Shuja Pasha have submitted their replies.
A Supreme Court statement said the replies received from six out of a total of ten respondents had been forwarded to the petitioners. Hussain Haqqani, who lost his job as ambassador to the US, and US businessman of Pakistani origin Mansour Ejaz, whose disclosure about the alleged memo seeking Washington's help against the military had triggered the scandal, sent replies to the court on Wednesday.
Parliamentary panel
The government has requested the court to dismiss the petitions saying a parliament panel is already conducting an inquiry.
"There may be a need to fully examine the facts and circumstances leading to conception and issuance of the memo," Gen Kiyani said in his reply which was broadcast by local television channels and published by newspapers yesterday. He underscored that the episode "has an impact on national security and attempts to lower the morale of Pakistan Army". Gen Pasha, too, demanded a detailed investigation, saying "access to unadulterated truth and justice is a right of the people of Pakistan, the real sovereign masters of this country".
