ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s former Prime Miniter Yousaf Raza Gilani’s had authorised Hussain Haqqani to issue Pakistani visas to Americans.
A 2010 letter from Gilani office has raised further questions for the Pakistan people’s party (PPP) over then-ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani’s controversial powers in granting visas to US officials.
The letter stated, “The Ambassador in Washington is empowered to issue visas valid up to one year without the Embassy having to refer each such aforementioned visa application to the concerned authorities in Pakistan.”
The letter signed by Gilani’s Principal Secretary Nargis Sethi, stated, “The ambassador in Washington is empowered to issue entry visas for restricted periods to US officials who have been recommended in writing by the concerned US authorities, i.e. the Department of State and whose duly completed application forms, it is clearly indicated for what purposes they intend to travel to Pakistan.”
“The Pakistani embassy in US would issue these visas under intimation to the Prime Minister`s office in Islamabad,” it adds.
Haqqani wrote in an article that, “Among the security establishment’s grievances against me was the charge that I had facilitated the presence of large numbers of CIA operatives who helped track down bin Laden without the knowledge of Pakistan’s army — even though I had acted under the authorisation of Pakistan’s elected civilian leaders.”
The former ambassador article raised controversies. Moreover, members of parliament from treasury and opposition benches questioned his credibility.
