PAKISTAN COURT LIFTS RESTRICTION ON EX-ENVOY
ISLAMABAD, Jan 30, 2012 (AFP) - Pakistan's highest court on Monday lifted travel restrictions imposed on a former diplomat, in a fresh sign that a probe into a major scandal threatening the president is running out of steam.
Husain Haqqani was forced to resign as ambassador to Washington over WORLD AGENDA - FEBRUARY 2012 claims that he was involved in drafting a secret memo trying to enlist US help to curb the power of the military. He denies the accusations.
The Supreme Court restricted his travel and ordered judges to investigate who was behind the memo, heightening frenzied speculation that President Asif Ali Zardari could be forced out of office.
“He is allowed to proceed out of country,” chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said in his order, after lawyer Asma Jehangir guaranteed her client would appear before judges at four days' notice if required.
Last week, the investigation appeared to come unstuck when judges ruled out travelling abroad to hear the testimony of American businessman Mansoor Ijaz, who alone had implicated Zardari in the document.
Although Ijaz has been given another chance to appear before a judicial commission on February 9 and the Supreme Court on Monday extended its mandate by an extra two months, he has refused to visit Pakistan over security fears.