President, Haqqani had prior knowledge of the Abbottabad operation: Ijaz

WASHINGTON: US businessman of Pakistani origin Mansoor Ijaz has come out with new claims regarding the controversial memo.

Ijaz has turned a prior statement of his around and now claims that the plan to send the memo was made by President Asif Ali Zardari.

President Zardari also gave complete authority to Husain Haqqani to handle the memo, Ijaz further claims.

The claims don’t stop there, according to Ijaz both President Zardari and Haqqani who was Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US during that time had prior information about the US raid in Abbottabad.

The US businessman who has made several appearances on television since the memo scandal was revealed has never made these claims before.

Mansoor Ijaz on Lekin

Mansoor Ijaz spoke on Geo News’ program ‘Lekin’ about his claims that President Zardari and Husain Haqqani had prior knowledge of the Abbottabad operation

Ijaz said that Hussain Haqqani was telling a lie. Haqqani has resigned but he did not tell the truth, he claimed.

He said the Pakistani nation should know what their rulers had been up to, claiming that accordind to his analysis Hussain Haqqani and President Zardari were aware of the Osama operation in Abbottabad.

Mansoor Ijaz further said whatever he wrote was based on adequate evidence which he was in possession of.

He also claimed that Hussain Haqqani had nothing to say in his defence.

Ijaz clarified that he had never levelled allegations against anyone and that Pakistani media was distorting his statements.

Ijaz said the ISI Chief Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha had held a meeting with him with an aim to get to the facts, adding that the focus of the meeting was only the memo.