Haqqani’s resignation did little to clarify the provenance of the memo, which asked for help in forestalling a military coup. The matter first surfaced last month in a Financial Times column by Ijaz, who said he had delivered the memo on the instructions of a senior Pakistani diplomat.
The column argued that the United States needed to rein in a Pakistani spy branch long alleged to nurture jihadist groups.
In recent days, Ijaz has identified Haqqani as the diplomat and released transcripts of extensive cellphone conversations that he said the two had had as they conceived the memo, which was not signed. Among other things, the government investigation is supposed to examine the authenticity of those messages.
Haqqani supporters have questioned Ijaz’s credibility and suggested that the scandal is an elaborate setup by Pakistani intelligence. They point to Ijaz’s statement that he recently discussed the scandal with Lt. Gen. Ahmad Shuja Pasha in London — the chief of the agency Ijaz criticized in his column.
“It was a conspiracy,” said Fozia Wahab, a senior member of Zardari’s ruling party.
Others said the memo fit the pattern of the civilian government, which has frequently been at odds with the military but has been unwilling to stand up to it publicly.
“He could not have been sacked if there was not enough evidence,” Zafar Hilaly, a former diplomat, said on a talk show on the Express 24-7 news channel.
Haqqani, a former journalist and professor, has been at the center of previous civil-military tussles. In 2009, Pakistani critics accused him of “inserting” clauses that conditioned a multibillion-dollar U.S. assistance package on civilian control over the military, drawing condemnation from the Pakistani army. And after a CIA contractor fatally shot two men in Pakistan this year, Pakistani intelligence leaked figures it said showed the Pakistani Embassy in Washington was giving out scores of visas to Americans without proper oversight. Haqqani denied that, saying visa numbers had remained steady.
Staff writer Karen DeYoung in Washington and special correspondent Shaiq Hussain in Islamabad contributed to this report.
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