Memogate: Take action against Ijaz, Pak tells US

Pakistan on Monday said it will approach Interpol for further probe into the affairs of 'memogate' key figure Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz, and asked the United States to take action against him for violating American laws and making false statements about its raid that killed Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Referring to Ijaz statements in a magazine article that Pakistan's top leadership and the former envoy to the US Husain Haqqani had prior knowledge of the May 2 raid that killed bin Laden, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the US had admitted that the Pakistan government and Haqqani were not aware about the covert action.

"So, the US must take action against Mansoor Ijaz for passing false statements," he told the media after chairing a meeting at the interior ministry on Monday afternoon. "Pakistan has always been asked to do more but it is time for the US to take action against the person who is violating its laws by misguiding the international community," Malik said. He also said Ijaz has repeatedly changed his stance on the 'memogate' issue.

All information related to Ijaz has been collected and Pakistan will approach Interpol for further investigation, he said. He suggested the main opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz should approach the Supreme Court regarding Ijaz's action and the government will extend its support in this regard.

Ijaz recently made public a secret memo that was sent to the US military after bin Laden was killed in May.

The memo sought American help to prevent a military takeover in Pakistan. It also purportedly committed the Pakistan government to a wide-ranging revamp of its national security set-up to remove military officials with links to militants.

Haqqani resigned as Pakistan's envoy to the US following Ijaz's claim that he drafted and delivered the memo on the instructions of the former envoy. Haqqani has denied the charges.

The Supreme Court recently set up a commission to investigate the memogate controversy. In response to a question, Malik said the government will implement any decision made by the Supreme Court regarding Haqqani. He said Haqqani had no intention of leaving Pakistan. "If he wanted to leave the country, he would not have come back," he added.