Sharif files petition in SC to prevent Haqqani from leaving

A day after filing a petition in the Pakistan Supreme Court seeking a probe into the 'memogate' scandal, former premier Nawaz Sharif on Thursday sought its direction to bar former envoy to the United States, Husain Haqqani, from leaving the country till the probe is completed.

In the petition filed in the apex court today, Sharif said Haqqani's name should be included in the interior ministry's exit control list, a document with names of all persons barred from leaving Pakistan.

Haqqani was forced out after being linked to a secret memorandum sent to the US military chief in May.

The memo, made public by Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz, had sought US help to prevent a possible military coup in the wake of the American raid that killed Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Haqqani has said he played no role in drafting or delivering the memo.

Interestingly, in a bid to pressure the Pakistan government on the controversy, Sharif, who heads the main opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party, had on Wednesday filed a constitutional petition in the Supreme Court seeking a probe into the secret memo.

In that petition, Sharif asked the apex court to summon President Asif Ali Zardari, Haqqani, Ijaz, army chief Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani, ISI chief Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha and Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir to appear before it to explain "the detestable, the despicable and the treacherous memorandum".

Sharif has asked the court to identify those responsible or involved in authoring the memo, providing assistance in the process and approving the act. It could not immediately be ascertained when the court would take up the two petitions.