Pak memogate probe panel's report ready

The final report of a judicial commission that investigated a mysterious memo seeking US help to stave off a feared coup in Pakistan is ready, the panel's chief said on Monday.

Balochistan High Court Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Eesa, the chairman of the commission, said the report will be sent to the Supreme Court in a sealed envelope.

Briefing journalists on the completion of the commission's probe, Eesa thanked the Attorney General and other state institutions for facilitating the panel's proceedings.

The three-judge commission was formed by the Supreme Court on December 30 last year to probe the alleged memo that was made public by Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz.

Ijaz claimed he had drafted and sent the memo to the US military shortly after the killing of Osama bin Laden in the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad in May last year.

Ijaz further claimed he had acted on the instructions of Pakistan's then envoy to the US, Husain Haqqani.

Haqqani was forced to resign after the memo became public.

However, the government dismissed Ijaz's allegations and the businessman was never able to produce any evidence to back up his claims.

Many analysts have said Ijaz acted at the behest of Pakistan's security establishment to oust Haqqani from his post.