Husain Haqqani, Pakistan’s ambassador to US, offers to resign
Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani, US Senator John Kerry and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari visit a flood relief camp in Rajanpur district’s Jampur on August 19, 2010.
Pakistan's ambassador to the United States, Husain Haqqani has offered to resign, after claims that he had written a memo to US officials asking to rein in the Pakistani military and intelligence agency in the wake of Osama bin Laden's death.
The Guardian reported that an urgent letter was sent to former US military chief Admiral Mike Mullen from Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari asking for help from the United States to prevent a coup against his government.
According to the Guardian:
Husain Haqqani, the US ambassador known for being an effective operator in Washington, warned on Thursday that the furor surrounding the letter was being exploited by the opponents of democracy in Pakistan. But he told the Guardian he had offered to resign in order to put an end to the controversy.
Mansoor Ijaz, a US-based Pakistani businessman claimed that he delivered the memo, and revealed its contents in an article in the Financial Times last month.
Ijaz said that he was asked to deliver the memo by a senior Pakistani diplomat, who most assumed was Haqqani.
According to the Guardian, a spokesman for Mullen, confirmed that they received a letter, but added that Mullen "did not find it at all credible and took no note of it then or later."
Haqqani, who has served as Pakistan’s representative to the US since 2008, denied that he had neither drafted nor delivered any memo, reports the Express Tribune.
“The person who started this debate must have a big ego, my ego is not more important than the country or the democratic process,” Haqqani said.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani recalled Haqqani to Islamabad to explain his position.
"I do not want this non-issue of an insignificant memo written by a private individual and not considered credible by its lone recipient to undermine democracy," he said to the Guardian.
The Pakistani government said Thursday that it has not decided whether to accept a resignation offer from its ambassador, USA Today reported.