Haqqani flies out tonight as SC cuts strings

Pakistan’s former ambassador to US, Husain Haqqani is likely to travel to Abu Dhabi on Monday night, it is learnt.  Earlier, the larger bench of Supreme Court allowed Husain Haqqani to travel abroad. The bench ordered that Haqqani can travel but this travel will be subjected to providing details to the Registrar Office and will come back on a four-day notice. Counsel for Husain Haqqani, Asma Jahangir, pleaded before the court to allow her client to travel abroad. The nine-member larger bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, took up this application alongside an application of Akram Sheikh, counsel for Mansoor Ijaz, who has been seeking from the court to direct the commission to record the statement of Mansoor Ijaz outside Pakistan due to security threats to him. Moreover, the CJ rejected the plea of Akram Sheikh to record the statement of his client in London and suggested that application can be forwarded in the memo commission in this regard. SC had constituted a commission comprising 3 senior most judges to ascertain facts in memogate case and directed it to present its report within 4 weeks. Important witness Mansoor Ejaz in memogate scandal was summoned on previous hearing to record his statement but he failed to appear before the commission, citing security reasons. The memo Commission said in its order that there was no such reason that it should move to foreign country to record Mansoor Ejaz statement. Commission approached SC for extension of period.