Memo scandal: Court dismisses plea against Mansoor Ijaz

A Pakistani court Wednesday dismissed a plea to file a case against Pakistani-American  businessman Mansoor Ijaz who forwarded a secret memo to Washington that said President Asif Ali Zardari last year feared a military coup.

Additional Sessions Judge Syed Wajahat Hassan in Islamabad rejected the petition to file the case against Mansoor Ijaz, reported Geo News.

The petition was filed Jan 7 by Pakistan Peoples Party activist Khalid Jameel Sati, seeking registration of criminal case against Mansoor Ijaz.

Mansoor Ijaz claims to have delivered a memo to then chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mike Mullen last year at the behest of then Pakistan's envoy to the US Husain Haqqani. The memo said Zardari feared a military take-over following the killing of Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, near Islamabad, May 2 last year.

Petitioner Khalid Jameel Sati sought arrest orders against Mansoor Ijaz. He pleaded that Ijaz hatched conspiracy against the democracy and the country as he attempted to pit the army and the government against each other.

The revelation about the secret memo led to Haqqani stepping down. Former minister Sherry Rehman was then appointed the new envoy to the US. Pakistani parliament and Supreme Court are probing the memo issue.