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Aamir Qureshi / AFP - Getty Images
Pakistan's former ambassador to the United States, Husain Haqqani (center), exits the Supreme Court in Islamabad on Dec. 22, 2011.
Pakistan's former ambassador to the United States fears he will be murdered if he leaves the sanctuary of the prime minister's official residence after he was branded a "Washington lackey" and a "traitor," according to a new interview.
Speaking to The Daily Telegraph newspaper, Husain Haqqani said that "certain powerful quarters" in Pakistan -- the paper said this was a reference to the country's ISI intelligence agency -- were behind the claims against him.
Haqqani is at the center of a scandal that threatens to topple Pakistan's government over an alleged request to the U.S. to help stop a coup by the army, following the American raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
In October, a U.S. businessman of Pakistani origin, Mansoor Ijaz, wrote an article for the Financial Times newspaper claiming Haqqani had written a memo to U.S. Admiral Mike Mullen, who was then chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, supposedly promising to replace Pakistan's national security hierarchy with people favorable to the U.S. in exchange for help in reining in the military.
Ijaz, who claimed he had been asked to convey the message to Mullen, further alleged that Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari supported the move. The Financial Times operates behind a paywall, but Ijaz also wrote an article for Pakistan's The News in November describing his allegations.
'Hysteria'
Both Zardari and Haqqani denied Ijaz's claims, but Haqqani subsequently resigned.
"I'm a guest of the prime minister (Yousuf Raza Gilani) with whom I have had a long-standing political association. There are clear security concerns given the hysteria generated against me. Staying at the prime minister's house is the safest option," Haqqani told the Telegraph in an interview published Wednesday.
"My good friend Salman Taseer (the late governor of Punjab) was killed by a security guard because he heard in the media that the governor had blasphemed. I'm being called a traitor and an American lackey in the media with the clear encouragement of certain powerful quarters even though I've not been charged legally with anything," he added.
He said that he had left the prime minister's house twice, once to go to court and another time to visit the dentist because he had toothache.
"The president and prime minister are firmly standing behind me and the government is not going anywhere. This is psychological warfare against the government," he told the Telegraph.
Amb. Husain Haqqani discusses whether the Pakistani government or military knew about Osama bin Laden's whereabouts.
In December, Zardari, who was married to former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated in 2007, said people should pay tribute to her memory by guarding against anti-democratic conspiracies, an apparent reference to tensions over the memo scandal.
He said his wife's death was also a conspiracy against Pakistani democracy.
"I therefore urge all the democratic forces and the patriotic Pakistanis to foil all conspiracies against democracy and democratic institutions," said Zardari in a statement sent to reporters.
More from msnbc.com and NBC News:
- Iran oil standoff could mean higher gas prices
- Will Iran make good on its threat against US?
- Afghan officials: We're hunting tortured teen bride's husband
- Tension, resentment could redefine US relations with Pakistan
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Leave a Comment:
Pull our troops out of there NOW and let them kill each other in the name of Allah.
lawl you're a genius aren't you? The article is about Pakistan, not Afghanistan dipsh!t.
Not so simple. They have nuclear weapons that will fall into the hands of whomever comes along next.
To further expound on your comment regarding Pakistan's nuclear weapons. It is estimated that they have 100 to 110 nuclear warheads. So while some may be concerned about Iran developing a nuclear weapon that does not yet exist, there is a Muslim country two to the east that has a TON of them. And Ren, that country is Pakistan, not Afghanistan. I know they both end it stan, but please try to keep up. But yes, may they kill each other in the name of Allah. Wonder what will happen to all those nuclear warheads while they are killing each other...
Ren-755775 in 2012, he is on par with the other jokers in the Republican primaries.
I am so happy that the U.S military is sworn to defend the constitution of the US against all enemies, both foreign and domestic and not sworn to defend any political party or religion.
If God / Allah needs any help in defending himself, then he is a weak god worth of no respect or worship.
Pakistan sure knows how to treat terrorists well, and hurt those who try to save the country from it.
Pakistan is just pissed cause we started killing terrorists in their country, while they were taking a piss ass approche to it. I am sure the paks killed at the border were working with the Taliban and we knew it and just blasted their sorry butts!
Face it Pakistan have been playing both sides from the start!
Ren is right. We do have troops in Pakistan in covert ops. Sorry Brian YOU are wrong.
Have religious madness, especially Islamic one, any limits?
Pakistan will be like Iraq soon. It is only matter of time before nukes fall into Islamic militants and terrorists hands! Then anybody can be target.
So bomb the nukes before leaving Afghanistan.
Greg In New York, you are suspended for a day for violating rule # 1 of the Code of Honor.
Wait...Pakistan is not a democracy? Im shocked...smh.
this man is being terrorized...small wonder he is in self-imposed lock down...a "shooter" could come from anywhere...he has my deepest sympathy for standing his ground...hope things work out well for him...
Before taking oath as President, earlier Mr. ten percent earlier Zardari, hid in the basement of their PM like this Haqqani. Still Zardari survived.
Allah will handle Haqqani's problems.
i am sure his fears are valid. his country - his entire race and culture - is populated with stone-age mentality and barbarism. teen wives pimped into prostitution by in-laws, suicide bombers, treating women as chattel, soldiers killing civilians - of their own country, etc, etc. they are terrible people and not to be trusted.
We have full of them right in the US, Britain and European nations.
Just wait and watch how some will jump give spins, abuses, make piles of agents and so on!
Why don't the Pakis go back to their beloved Pakistan instead of acting as liabilities and curses on us?
Pakistan, like Iran, can fabricate charges for anyone they fear, and anyone can bring those charges withour a court of law. "That man ogled my sister. Let us skin him alive." Most Pakis would fall right in line and sharpen their skinning knives, even if the man was never anywhere near the sister (but why would anyone ogle a Pakistani woman?) Anyway, the situation there is difficult to understand unless you smoke as much hash as most Pakis do. They will believe most anything they are told by their own people, and nothing at all of whatever the truth might be.
Easy: Get out of Pakistan!
Pakistanis are hypocrites. America makes a mistake,they take to the streets,the Pakistan Taliban kill innocents,you here nothing. Now they are threatning one that is fighting for them to have a voice.
@ matt;The term Paki,is derragoatory,as I was scolded for using the term a while back,just lettin ya know.
I saw Husain Haqqani defend Pakistan's position very eloquently when the Navy Seals killed Osama Bin Laden deep in Pakistani territory. He is considered a traitor becasue he was occasionally self critical, (objectivity is essential for good diplomacy). If he is killed or tried as a traitor, then it will be proof of a Pakistani policy of institutionalized duplicity. How can he be a traitor if we are "allies" in the war on terror?
Pakistan is such an enlightened country. In a few hundred more years they might actually come out of the stone age.
pakis are no good, stinky, rotten animals.
Every killing/death threat is done in Pakistan for a reason.
Carbombs and IEDs are done to show that people aren't safe anywhere and that your community will be punished for housing the undesirables.
The military's debacle with the NATO airstrike that killed 24 grunts was to make a point about the US not respecting their borders, as well as their support of the "freedom fighters"
This death threat seems aimed at keeping the civilian government from getting too outspoken.
It just seems like the universal language spoken over there and understood by all is death.
Most of this area is governed by well-educated wealthy terrorists. They couldn't find their a$$ with both hands and a mirror nailed to the floor. Oh wait, are we talking about the US or Pakistan?
A prisoner in his own beloved country.A country were you're allowed to express your view and beliefs openly.LMAO!!! Thier a bunch of backwater ,stoning throwing,ignorant people who have no clue that thier own clerics are manipulating them.Its time to wake up and join the 21 first century Pakistan.Otherwise be left behind and perish into the abyss,where you are headed to.
And yet we will send them a billion dollars and they will use it to pay Taliban terrorists to kill American soldiers.
Drill for oil here, leave them to kill one another with glee.
I guess the guy is afraid of being attacked by some peaceful moderate muslims .
IGNORE THE CONSTITUTION AND AMERICA WILL RESEMBLE PAKISTAN
Pakistan has such a mix of tribes each with their own set of goals and motivations. Their government, if you want to call it that, is not able to control everything that is going on and doesn't appear to even have that as a goal. What makes one group happy has a different effect on another group. It is a place where the phrase "know your audience" is a life or death matter because you don't have freedom of speech. Instead of expressing verbal disagreement over what someone says, you have them permanently silenced. A constitution defended by rule of law is what is missing. It sure beats law du jour. Individual rights are expressed in a constitution.
We have seen our individual rights eroded in this country in the past decade due to fear mongering and control by political extremists. When our government ignores the constitution without challenge, that makes America a much more scary place to live. The Patriot Act has removed constitutional safeguards to privacy. The TSA was instituted after 9-11 and is an unaffordable bureaucratic monster that really can't guarantee safety anyway. It is surprising how many American citizens are on terrorist watch lists. Do you remember McCarthyism in the 1950s when fear mongers were accusing American citizens of being communists? A population that doesn't sense it has any control over what it's government does isn't a working democracy. America is heading down the slippery slope of abandoning a long history of protected individual rights. Our US Supreme Court in CITIZENS vs FEC sided with the wealthy to skew any election by drowning the opposition with scare tactics where truth is minimized and confusion is maximized. It's a very sick result from the main branch of our government whose central responsibility is to to PRESERVE and PROTECT the CONSTITUTION. A more appropriate title for the case would be THE RICH vs DEMOCRACY. Oh by the way, democracy lost the case. ZEEK