The government on Friday declared the Pakistani-American businessman, Mansoor Ijaz, as Israeli agent, saying he (Ijaz) was hatching conspiracy against the country and its institutions. Talking to reporters outside the Parliament House, Minister for Religious Affairs Syed Khursheed Shah termed the alleged 'memo' as merely a piece of paper, saying that Ijaz had also levelled allegations against Director General Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) General Shuja Pasha.
He also advised the ISI chief to file a lawsuit against Ijaz. In his recent allegation, Ijaz had accused ISI chief of seeking Arab leaders' help for a military coup in Pakistan. He said that the memo case was in Supreme Court and it will decide it. "We will accept the judgement (whatsoever it would be)," he added. He said that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif by taking the memo case to Supreme Court had proved that he had no confidence in the elected parliament, which had tasked the Parliamentary Committee on National Security to probe the matter.
The minister termed Ijaz as an Israeli agent, who, he said, was hatching conspiracies against the country and its institutions. He revealed that Ijaz, during Nawaz Sharif tenure on October 10, 1999 just two days before a military dictator overthrew his (Nawaz) government, had a meeting with the then foreign minister Sartaj Aziz at his residence and urged briefed him to recognise Israel. "Giving importance to allegations of a foreigner and a follower of Qadyani school of thought is unfortunate," he added.
Labelling Ijaz as an Israeli agent by a responsible minister of the government came at a time when the controversy has entered into circuital stage following submission of replies by Army Chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani and ISI chief General Shuja Pasha in Supreme Court, saying the memo does exist, which the government had repeatedly denied.
Shah said that a conspiracy was being hatched to create confrontation among the country's institutions. At the same time, he also warned that any 'major change' could endanger the country's stability. He, however, said that people of Pakistan would foil any conspiracy against the country and its democratic institutions, adding that people were mature and the conspirators could no more be able to hide in the cover.