In secret memo, Zardari had offered to hand over 26/11 masterminds to India

In secret memo, Zardari had offered to hand over 26/11 masterminds to India

The secret memo, rumoured to have been authored by Pakistani envoy Husain Haqqani on behalf of President Asif Ali Zardari and handed over to former US military chief Mike Mullen last May, made several offers to the US if it were to help prevent a military coup following the operation against Osama bin Laden.

One of the offers was to hand over to India the Pakistani masterminds of the Mumbai terror attacks, at least those against whom there is sufficient evidence of guilt.

“We are prepared to cooperate fully under the new national security team’s guidance with the Indian government on bringing all perpetrators of Pakistani origin to account for the 2008 Mumbai attacks, whether outside the government or inside any part of the government, including its intelligence agencies. This includes handing over those against whom sufficient evidence exists of guilt to the Indian security services,” it said.

Leaked by The Cable, online blog of the Foreign Policy magazine, the memo said: “Request your direct intervention in conveying a strong, urgent and direct message to Gen. Kayani that delivers Washington’s demand for him and Gen. Pash to end their brinkmanship aimed at bringing down the civilian apparatus.” The memo, handed over to Admiral Mullen by Pakistani American businessman Mansoor Ijaz through an intermediary, promised to revamp Pakistan’s national security team, by ridding the present lot with pro-US advisers who have had “long and historical ties to the US military, political and intelligence communities”.

As the “Memo-gate” roils Pakistan’s civilian government and military establishment, the leaked document, whose existence has been confirmed by Mullen, Ijaz said on Thursday that Ambassador Haqqani was not only the author of the memo, but the “architect” of the entire plan to overthrow Pakistan’s military and intelligence leadership, and was seeking US help.

“Haqqani believed he and the president (Zardari) could redraft the architectural blueprint of how Pakistan should be governed in the future -- with civilians in command of the armed forces and intelligence services and the memorandum’s content was geared in that direction,” Ijaz told The Cable.

The memo, which has now been put out on the Foreign Policy website, made the case why the US must come to the aid of the civilian government by restraining Gen. Kayani at a time when the Osama operation had stirred fears of a military coup to topple the Zardari government.

“Civilians cannot withstand much more of the hard pressure being delivered from the Army to succumb to the wholesale changes. If civilians are forced from power, Pakistan becomes a sanctuary for UBL’s (Osama bin Laden’s) legacy and potentially the platform for far more rapid spread of al Qaeda’s brand of fanaticism and terror. A unique opportunity exists for the civilians to gain the upper hand over army and intelligence directorates due to their complicity in the UBL matter,” said the memo, delivered to Mullen just nine days after the killing of bin Laden.

The six-point plan set out in the memo promised a formal “independent” inquiry to investigate the harbouring of bin Laden and identify and punish the Pakistani officials involved in the effort.

It also pledged that Pakistan would then hand over top al Qaeda and Taliban officials residing in Pakistan, including Ayman Al Zawahiri, Mullah Omar and Sirajuddin Haqqani, or give US military forces a “green light” to conduct the necessary operations to capture or kill them on Pakistani soil, with the support of Islamabad.

The memo also said that the new national security team would “eliminate Section S of the ISI charged with maintaining relations to the Taliban, Haqqani network etc.”, arguing that the move would dramatically improve relations with Afghanistan.