American businessman Mansoor Ijaz. — File photo

ISLAMABAD: The judicial commission probing the memogate case on Monday summoned the central character of the scandal, US businessman Mansoor Ijaz and ordered the Pakistani forces to provide him security upon his arrival, DawnNews reported.

The commission formed by the Supreme Court said that Ijaz was immune from being prosecuted in Pakistan and that no case will be registered against him.

Ijaz was ordered to appear before the commission on January 16 and record his statement at 09 am.

Earlier, Pakistan’s former ambassador to the United States, Husain Haqqani told the judicial commission probing the memo scandal that he had no role in either the drafting of or dispatching of the memo.

“I had no role in creating, drafting and/or delivering the memorandum to the (US) Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen,” Haqqani said on Monday. “I have no knowledge of the origin, authenticity or purpose of the said memo.”

“I was falsely accused in the media and (by) Mr Ijaz of being the person that communicated the contents of the memo,” said Haqqani, dressed in a grey suit with a Pakistani flag pin on his lapel.

Recording his preliminary statement before the commission, Haqqani said he was residing in the prime minister’s official residence.

Earlier today, the government had decided to issue Mansoor Ijaz a visa to Pakistan without delay.

However, the attorney-general told the judicial commission that the government could not guarantee that a case would not be registered against the US businessman.

The commission comprising chief justices of three high courts continued its working here in the presence of cameras and microphones recording the proceeding officially.

The attorney-general told the commission that the government had directed the Pakistani High Commission in London to issue a visa to Ijaz when he applies for one. He moreover said that the government would notify the Supreme Court in the event of legal action against Ijaz.

During Monday’s meeting of the commission, chairman Justice Qazi Faez Essa said that no obstacles in the commission’s workings would be tolerated.

Earlier, Advocate Akram Shaikh, the counsel for Ijaz, said the US businessman had agreed to appear on Jan 16 before the commission.

However, Shaikh said Ijaz’s arrival and availability depended on the condition that the Blackberry conversation between Ijaz and Haqqani was made available to investigating authorities.

Shaikh said Ijaz had already issued a legal notice to the telephone company for making the conversation available. According to the company, Haqqani’s consent was necessary for that purpose, which Shaikh said Haqqani had not given. Haqqani said that was not the case and that he would soon make a decision on the subject.

To which, Justice Essa asked Haqqani if he understood what his possible refusal to make the records available would imply.

Haqqani’s counsel, Zahid Bukhari, claimed that Ijaz would meddle with evidence and then blame the Pakistani government.

Shaikh also provided the commission with a petition filed in a session court for arresting Ijaz and said that a false case was being registered against his client to intimidate him.

Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz’s chief Nawaz Sharif also appeared before the commission today.

Moreover, a written statement of Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani was also submitted to the commission.

Brigadier Naubahar of the GHQ’s JAG branch was representing the army chief and DG ISI Ahmed Shuja Pasha.

Moreover, the ISI chief Pasha requested for an in-camera proceedings of the case. He said this in his letter received by the commission today.

However, the chairman of the commission Justice Qazi Faez Essa said that the ISI chief can deliver ‘secret information’ to the commission in a sealed envelope.

Haqqani, during the interrogation, also asked the commission to grant him permission to travel to US. However the commission only directed the attorney general to make arrangements to bring whatever needed by Haqqani back from US.

The proceedings were adjourned till January 16.