Ijaz to arrive in Pak on Jan 24 for Memo Gate deposition

Mansoor Ijaz, the Pakistani-American businessman key in the Memo Gate scandal, has reportedly received his visa and is expected to arrive at Chaklala Airbase in Pakistan on January 24th.

Ijaz would give his testimony to the Supreme Court in the Memo Gate scandal, the Dawn reports.

Although the government claimed that Ijaz will also be given high-level security during his stay in the country, Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik yesterday hinted at registering a treason case against him for allegedly playing a role in the fall of a Pakistan People's Party (PPP) government in 1990s, and for maligning the Pakistan Army and the ISI.

Malik also said that the government had the right to 'examine' Ijaz's role in the fall of the Benazir Bhutto government.

He said Ijaz had written columns against the Pakistan Army and the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) and it would be 'dishonest not to ask as to why he has written against our beloved army and the ISI'.

Seeking the opposition's support in initiating a case under Article 6 of the Constitution against a person who had been conspiring against the country while sitting outside, Malik said: "If we are supporting PML-N's demand for initiating action against General Pervez Musharraf under Article 6, then the opposition and Nawaz Sharif should also support us."

Malik said he was ready to appear before the judicial commission, and any move against Ijaz would be taken strictly on a legal basis.

Malik also assured that the government would provide complete security to Ijaz whenever he arrives in Pakistan. (ANI)