Pak Army corps commanders expected to meet in next 24 hours

Rawalpindi: Key corps commanders of the Pakistan Army are expected to meet in the next 24 hours at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi to assess the impact on the armed forces of a statement made by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

There are unconfirmed reports that Pakistan is in the midst of a deep politco-military crisis after Prime Minister Gilani sacked the defence secretary, a retired general, and the latter's responsibilities being handed over to the Cabinet Secretary.

A release on the ISPR website on Wednesday said that Gilani's allegations leveled against Chief of Army Staff General (COAS) Ashfaq Pervez Kayani and Director General Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Ahmed Shuja Pasha were very serious and had "very serious ramifications with potentially grievous consequences for the country".

It stated that Gilani gave the interview to The People's Daily Online at the time when Kayani was also on an official visit to China.

"The Honourable Prime Minister inter alia termed the responses given by COAS and DG ISI in the alleged Memo Case to the Honourable Supreme Court of Pakistan as unconstitutional and illegal." However, it added, that Gilani's statement did not take into account the fact that the COAS and the DG ISI were cited as respondents in the Memogate scandal by the Supreme Court and were served notices directly.

It also highlighted that in an earlier meeting between the prime minister and Kayani, the PM had publicly stated that the replies submitted by the respondents were "in response to the notice of the Court through proper channel and in accordance with the rules of business" and no objection was raised at that time.

The statement said: "COAS and DG ISI in their response to the Honourable Supreme Court were obliged to state facts as known to them, on the Memo Issue. The issue of jurisdiction and maintainability of the Petitions was between the Honourable Supreme Court and the Federation." (ANI)