ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Saturday said he would follow the recommendations of the parliamentary committee if it directed him to put the name of US businessman Mansoor Ijaz on the Exit Control List (ECL).
Talking to reporters in F-9 Park here, he said he could not disobey the directives of the committee. He said the Interior Ministry was responsible for providing security to Mansoor Ijaz and it would follow the directives of the attorney general as per recommendations of the judicial commission and the law of the land.
“PPP leader Raja Riaz is concerned to ask Mansoor Ijaz how he derailed the government of Benazir Bhutto and who has given him the right to write against the Pakistan Army and the ISI,” he added.
To a question, he said the government could approach a court of law for the registration of a case if Article 6 was violated. About the statement of the Norwegian intelligence chief regarding the presence of their spies in Pakistan, he said the ministry was probing the matter.
Rehman Malik said the Interior Ministry, not the ISI, would provide security to Mansoor Ijaz because the ISI was not a security providing agency. He said the attorney general would finally decide about security to Ijaz.
“According to the Constitution, the army cannot provide security to any person and the attorney general has already pointed out this fact,” he added.
Malik said if the government felt need, the army would be called out, adding: “But providing security is the basic responsibility of the Interior Ministry and we will provide complete security if Mansoor Ijaz arrives in Pakistan”. He said Ijaz should appear before the Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS).
He said whatever the decision parliament would take about Nato supplies, it would be implemented. He said recommendations of the PCNS would be debated in parliament.
He said it was the decision of the government not to reopen Nato supply lines until something good happened or there were some undertakings.
Meanwhile, talking to reporters, Advocate Akram Sheikh, counsel for US businessman Mansoor Ijaz, said one battalion of the Pakistan Army was needed for the security of Mansoor Ijaz.
He said if the government would not provide security according to the directions of the memo commission, he would not advise his client to come to Pakistan.
Talking to reporters, he said he had clarified that Mansoor Ijaz would not appear before the parliamentary committee. The counsel for Mansoor Ijaz wrote letters to the army chief and the attorney general regarding his client’s security.
Akram Sheikh said the federal government would be held responsible if Mansoor Ijaz did not come to Pakistan due to security issued, repeating his client could not come to Pakistan until assurance for security was given.
He asked the attorney general to respond to Mansoor Ijaz’s security call so that his client could visit Pakistan. He said if security to Mansoor Ijaz was not ensured, it would be equal to contempt of the memo commission.
Talking to a private TV channel, Akram Sheikh said the parliamentary committee was not authorised to summon Mansoor Ijaz.
“If the committee wants to question Mansoor Ijaz, it should seek an appointment. Otherwise, the committee has no constitutional right to summon him,” he added.
Akram Sheikh said the committee could only ask for the statement of Mansoor Ijaz from the judicial commission.
About security to Mansoor Ijaz, he said it was better to contact Husain Haqqani for the security of Ijaz instead of asking Interior Minister Rehman Malik to provide security to his client.
Akram Sheikh said he was thinking of filing a contempt of court petition against Rehman Malik for issuing threatening statements against Mansoor Ijaz.
