Former information minister to be probed over media leak
islamabad — Pakistan will investigate a former information minister over a leaked news report which sparked a rift between the government and the powerful army, it was announced on Sunday.
The report said civilian officials had warned the military to stop supporting militant fighters abroad.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday sacked Information Minister Pervaiz Rasheed over the issue.
“It will be a full-fledged (investigation) committee as it is a huge task that intelligence agencies alone cannot do,” Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told a press conference.
“Tomorrow names for the committee will be decided in a meeting with the Prime Minister and this task will be completed as soon as possible.”
The leak was false news which “has compromised our national narrative (against terrorism)”, Khan said.
The military wants, and also the government and the entire nation want, to expose the people behind this news, military particularly because they have been put in the dock wrongly
Chaudhry Nisar, Interior Minister
“The military wants, and also the government and the entire nation want, to expose the people behind this news, military particularly because they have been put in the dock wrongly.”
Khan said that Pervaiz Rasheed was removed because he failed to stop a reporter from Dawn newspaper from going ahead with the story when the reporter came to seek his comments before publication.
Khan said the ‘mischievous mind’ behind the anti-national interest fabricated news item would be exposed before the nation.
He said effort was made through the particular news to dent cordial civil-military ties.
There was a consensus that the person behind the news item would be taken to task.
The minister said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif wanted to take the matter to its logical conclusion. — AFP, APP