“Its [the letter’s] regurgitation at this time is politically motivated and aimed at diverting attention from real issues,” PPP spokesperson Senator Farhatullah Babar said in a statement on Friday. Pakistan’s embassies in important world capitals also had representatives of relevant government departments, including security agencies.
Senator Babar said that although Haqqani was empowered by the prime minister to issue visas, this did not mean that due process within the Embassy, involving representatives of other relevant departments, had been circumvented.
The ambassador had been empowered to issue visas only to visitors whose purpose of visit was clearly defined and duly recommended by the US State Department. “The purpose was to expedite, not bypass, the process.” It was also not an authorisation for issuing visas to US special forces, he maintained.
According to Senator Babar, the central question needing answer was how al Qaeda kingpin Osama bin Laden had lived near a cantonment for nearly a decade, directing terrorism the world over. “The central question is not who, following due process, [issued] visas to some Americans who may have eventually been able to hunt and take OBL out. No amount of verbal jugglery, media circus and mudslinging on the previous PPP government will erase this question from the public mind,” he said.
He said that a thorough inquiry was needed into visa issuance policies and procedures across the board from 2001 onwards when global hunt for OBL started. “Targeting some individuals or a political government for political gains will not advance national security interests,” he said.
“National security interests will (only) be advanced by a credible non-partisan probe into the visa policies and procedures across the board and across the time.
Investigations must also be made into how many Americans entered Pakistan through the Shamsi airbase in Balochistan, with or without visas, during the Musharraf regime.”
Such investigations, he said, could not be launched by way of ‘selective leaks or public statements’ in the media, adding that a starting point “can be the Abbottabad Commission probe”.
In a related development, Yousuf Raza Gilani said that he had never allowed Haqqani to issue visas to members of US special forces.
“The envoy had only been allowed to issue visas conditionally,” Gilani told reporters in Multan on Friday afternoon. “Empowering any ambassador did not imply he could resort to illegal means [during the conduct of his services],” he said.
“An ambassador cannot bypass rules and regulations,” Gilani said, calling upon the authorities to scrutinise the visas issued between 2002 and 2017.
Dismissing the notion that he had violated any rule during his tenure, Gilani asserted: “This is a non-issue… if you want to make it an issue, let the scrutiny begin from 2002.”
Elements carrying out the Abbottabad operation had not entered the country on a visa.
Former prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said today he had empowered the then US ambassador Hussain Haqqani to issue visas to American citizens in order to speed up the travel process.
“He (Haqqani) did not have the authority to issue visas to American security forces,” Gilani told reporters hours after a leaked document revealed the former Pakistani envoy to US used to issue visas on his own.
“Those who carried out Abottabad raids did not have any visas,” he added.
The document reads that Yousaf Raza Gilani ‘is pleased to announce’ that Pakistan Ambassador to Washington is being empowered to issue visas ‘with immediate effect’ to Americans with validity up to one year.
The document gave Haqqani the power to issue visas to any American recommended by the US Department of State, with completed applications clearly indicating their purpose of visit to Pakistan.
“The ambassador will not have to get affirmation from concerned authorities before issuing these visas,” read the order. The Pakistan Embassy in Washington was given powers of the Prime Minister’s Office for this purpose. Amid a pending vote over military courts in the Senate, the PPP has come out with some tough counter questions to military and political establishment - as the leak of former PM Yousuf Raza Gilani’s letter to ex-ambassador Husain Haqqani is pinching it hard.
The prime accused, Gilani yesterday denied any wrongdoing in issuance of visas to certain American nationals in 2010 - when he was prime minister.
Both he and his party, Pakistan People’s Party, demanded a judicial inquiry of the matter and making public the OBL commission report – saying the controversy was created to divert attention from real issues.
All this comes after the revelation of a secret letter from PM House to then Pakistan Ambassador to US Husain Haqqani lend credence to latter’s assertions that PPP government at the highest official level bypassed all security protocols for issuance of visas to certain Americans – thought to be spies and US Special Forces personnel.
The controversy began with an article penned by Haqqani wherein he claimed that PPP top leadership was involved in issuance of visas to the Americans. He also mentioned the secret document, which bears the signatures of the principal secretary to then PM Gilani and carried names of certain US nationals.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan on Friday declared that the disclosures made by Husain Haqqani were an act of “treason”. He also called it a conspiracy against the armed forces.
PPP Spokesperson Senator Farhatullah Babar said on Friday that the central question was not who granted visas to the Americans, but how the al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden lived in a cantonment for a decade directing terrorism globally.
He said that investigations must also be made into how many Americans entered Pakistan through Shamsi Airbase in Balochistan, with or without visas, during the days of Pervez Musharraf. Such investigations cannot be made through selective leaks or public statements in the media, he added.
He said, “There is nothing new nor wrong in the [July 14,] 2010 letter of PM’s House to the Foreign Office reported in the media. However, its regurgitation at this time is politically motivated and aimed at diverting attention from the real issue.
“A starting point can be the Abbottabad Commission probing the OBL fiasco. Appropriate lessons will only be learnt if the nation knew whether and who issued visas without due process as well as how a global terrorist was in hiding in Pakistan for so long.
“Hunting OBL has always been the official narrative. Making the Abbottabad Commission report public will be in conformity with the narrative. Any other course will not be credible and will be seen as political witch hunt.”
The spokesman said that no amount of “verbal jugglery, media circus and mudslinging on the previous PPP government will erase this question from public mind.”
Senator Babar said: “A thorough inquiry into visa-issuance policies and procedures across the board from 2001 onwards when global hunt for OBL started is what is needed. Targeting some individuals or a political government for political purposes will not advance national security interests.”
Addressing a news conference at the residence of former federal minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi in Multan, Yousuf Raza Gilani said he had empowered the embassy and not Husain Haqqani in person to issue visas to the Americans at will.
He said that permission was only to grant visas to those recommended by the State Department with the purpose of visit clearly specified.
“The Special Operation Forces that participated in the Abbotabad Operation did not come into Pakistan’s territory with any visas,” he said.
He said that his letter, which was being discussed, was sent to Haqqani via concerned ministries under set regulations and concerned ministries were consulted before writing this letter.
"I wrote this letter in the light of rules and regulations according to which the ambassador had to issue visas after security clearance." He explained that the letter was not addressed to the ambassador in person rather it asked for giving authority to the embassy.
Babar said that the embassies in important capitals of the world also had representatives of relevant government departments including security agencies.
“The ambassador was empowered by the prime minister to issue visas. But it does not mean that due process within the embassy, involving representatives of other relevant departments, was allowed to be circumvented,” he said.
Babar maintained that the ambassador was empowered to issue visas only to those whose purpose of visit was clearly defined and duly recommended by the State Department. “The purpose was to expedite, not bypass, the process,” he explained.
Babar said that it was also not an authorisation for visas to the US Special Operation Forces.
“National security interests will be advanced only by a credible non-partisan probe in the visa policies and procedures across the board and across the time,” he said.
