Sticks to his claim before a Pakistani judicial commission that he drafted and delivered a memo seeking US help to stave off a possible military coup in Pakistan on the instructions of former envoy Husain Haqqani

Islamabad

American businessman Mansoor Ijaz on Wednesday stuck to his claim before a Pakistani judicial commission that he drafted and delivered a memo seeking US help to stave off a possible military coup in Pakistan on the instructions of former envoy Husain Haqqani, PTI reports.

Ijaz made the claim while deposing via video link from London before Pakistan Supreme Court appointed commission investigating the mysterious memo that triggered a tense stand- off between the civilian government and the powerful military.

While recording his statement, Ijaz repeated many of the claims he has made over the past few months regarding the memo.

He provided bills from his mobile phone service provider and notes of his alleged discussions with Haqqani to back his claims.

Ijaz claimed Haqqani had told him that if the US helped remove Pakistan Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, then persons amenable to the American administration would be included in the new national security set- up that would be created by President Asif Ali Zardari.

He further claimed Haqqani had told him that Pakistan would help capture top terrorists like Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Mohammad Omar and al- Qaeda leader Aiman Al- Zawahiri.

The controversial businessman claimed his contacts with Haqqani began on May 3 last year - a day after a day Osama bin Laden was killed during a raid by US Special Forces in Abbottabad.

Ijaz claimed Haqqani had said the Pakistan Army was pressuring Zardari and wanted to depose the civilian government.

Ijaz said that Haqqani often spoke in haste and appeared nervous during their phone conversations.

Ijaz added that Haqqani had devised various code words for use in their messages, including " Ispahani" for the Americans, " friends" for Pakistanis and " boss" for Zardari.

He gave the commission the PINs for the BlackBerry phones used by himself and Haqqani and handed over some evidence to the secretary of the commission, who is in London to supervise the deposition.

In Islamabad, Attorney General Anwar- ul- Haq told the commission it would be necessary to conduct forensic tests on the BlackBerry messages that Ijaz had produced to support his claims.