Malik seeks to depose before Pakistan panel

Mansoor has stated that Malik met the then chief of Research and Analysis Wing

Terming the revelations made by Aijaz Mansoor,a US businessmen of Pakistani origin,before the Memo Commission in Pakistan an attempt to malign his image,separatist leader Yasin Malik has asked the Pakistan Supreme Court to provide him an opportunity to depose before the panel.

Mansoor has told the commission about Maliks alleged contact with a former senior RAW official.

Having come to know about the statement (of Aijaz Mansoor),my client was pained. He feels a cleverly calculated mischief in the statement of Aijaz Masnoor, Maliks counsel Zafar Ahmad Shah has written to Pakistans Supreme Court. My client is not a party to the proceedings but he has been named; an opportunity needs to be provided to him to respond to the statement, he added.

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Mansoor triggered a major crisis in political and diplomatic circles in Pakistan when he made public a mysterious memo that had sought US help to stave off a feared coup in the country after the killing of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad on May 2.

Deposing before the commission,Mansoor has stated that Malik,at the insistence of the US government,met the then chief of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). Mansoor said this during cross-examination by the lawyers of former US ambassador to Pakistan Hussain Haqani.

In the letter to Pakistan SC,Maliks counsel has written: In order to keep the record straight,inform the world at large,in particular people of the subcontinent and to prevent pernicious maligning of my client,my client wishes to voluntarily depose before the commission to enable the people and the commission to know the truth itself.

The counsel has claimed that the militant-turned-political leader can reveal facts that will help the commission but cant be made public. Upon grant of opportunity to my client to depose before the commission,the commission will stand to gain and will become more aware of the matters being enquired into… the letter reads. My client cant say all the facts in communication as it is neither advisable nor in public interest to do so. He would however like to make free,fair and truthful statement… which will,I am sure,go a long way in finding answers to the questions forming subject matter of reference, it added.