Mansoor gets Kidwai’s surety to visit Pakistan
506 viewsBy jazbablog - Tue Jan 17, 8:58 pm
ISLAMABAD: Memogate is likely to take new turns as chances of Mansoor Ijaz visiting Pakistan have brightened after he got surety from Hamid Ashgar Kidwai, one of the central characters in Mehrangate.
After meeting a top intelligence official in Dubai, Kidwai assured, on behalf of the Pakistani establishment, Ijaz’s safe return after witnessing in person before the Judicial Commission on Memo case. It was Kidwai who engaged Akram Sheikh Advocate as lawyer for Mansoor Ijaz and secured power of attorney from the latter.
According to sources close to Kidwai, former Executive Director of Mehran Bank in Peshawar and currently based in Dubai has formally accepted the role as intermediary between Mansoor Ijaz and Pakistani establishment. “It is obvious that cash-memo is now directly involved in the Memogate, as people like Mansoor, and Kidwai hardly move without money,” the sources observed.
The sources were of the view that the establishment was out to leave no stone unturned in making sure that Ijaz appears before the Commission appointed by the Supreme Court of Pakistan. “The establishment seems loosing the case in case the prime witness that goes this time in their favor does or could not appear before the Commission,” they added.
A section of press reported last year that Federal Investigation Agency had been forcing the Mehran Bank authorities in the past to register a case against Hamid Asghar Kidwai for stealing documents in question regarding the political bribes from the 1990 to 1994.
Despite playing at the heart of the Mehrangate, Kidwai got lucrative position during Musharraf’s regime when he remained High Commissioner and Permanent Representative of Pakistan at the United Nations Environment Programme in 2003-2004.
Even after the restoration of democracy in 2008, Kidwai enjoyed the status of Roving Ambassador until Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gailani sacked him with two others from the same position on February 11, 2009.
The Mehran Bank scandal also known as Mehrangate, was a major political scandal in the history of Pakistan between 1990-1994 in which senior politicians and political parties were found to have been bribed by Pakistan Army and intelligence officers, from ISI, to prevent the re-election and to destabilize the government of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
Initiated by Pakistan Army’s Chief of Army Staff General Mirza Aslam Beg with the alleged support of President Ghulam Ishaq Khan payments of up to Rs 140 million were made by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director-General Lieutenant-General Asad Durrani and Corps of Engineers Engineer-in-Chief Lieutenant-General Javed Nasir via the owner of Mehran Bank Yunus Habib. Intelligence funds were deposited in Mehran Bank in 1992 propping up what was an insolvent bank as a favor for its owner’s help in loaning money to the Inter-Services Intelligence in 1990 that was used in the creation of the right wing alliance Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) and bankrolling the campaigns of many opponents of the PPP.
The scandal subsequently broke after the new ISI Director-General Lieutenant-General Javed Ashraf Qazi decided to transfer the intelligence fund back to state owned banks as per official rules. Mehran Bank was unable to return the money due to its poor financial state and collapsed. It was later discovered that large sums had been siphoned off to 39 fictitious parties.
In 1995, Mehran Bank was amalgamated with the National Bank and in 1996 the NBP had to make full provision for Mehran’s liabilities which resulted in a net loss that year to the bank of Rs 1.260 billion.
On April 20, 1994, giving details about the payments made by Mr Habib to generals, politicians and political parties, the then Interior Minister, Naseerullah Babar, told the National Assembly that the main beneficiary of his largesse was former army chief General Mirza Aslam Beg who received Rs140 million.
Yunus Habib was arrested on April 7, 1994 for misappropriation in the sale proceeds of the Dollar Bearer Certificates. On Dec 14, 1995, Younus Habib was convicted of fraud and embezzlement and given a sentence of 10 years rigorous imprisonment by the Special Court for Offences in Banks in Sindh. (Online)
