National News
Plea for lie detector tests of Haqqani
Posted on: Mon January 18, 2010
National Highlights
LAHORE: Barrister Javed Iqbal Jafree, pleading the case for the recovery of Dr Aafia Siddiqui from the US detention through the International Court of Justice, on Monday requested the Lahore High Court to order lie detector tests of top Pakistani officials, including Ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani, for allegedly receiving kickbacks in hiring three US lawyers for $ 2 million. He alleged that due to the involved of kickbacks, Islamabad was prevented from moving the ICJ for Aafia s recovery.Justice Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry adjourned till Jan 25 the proceedings of the petition and stopped short of accepting the petitioner s plea for a lie detector tests after Deputy Attorney General Naveed Inayat Malik produced the treaty signed with the US under which Pakistan could not move the ICJ without prior permission from Washington. However, Barrister Jafree argued by referring to an earlier judgment of the high court during an earlier habeas corpus petition for Dr Aafia s recovery in which the court, referring to the friendship treaty of 1959 between Pakistan and the US, held that the treaty did not bar Islamabad from moving the ICJ without US consent. Jafree cited an earlier undertaking, given to the Islamabad High Court by the then Attorney General Malik Qayum during the previous habeas corpus petition, that Islamabad would move the habeas corpus petition to the ICJ if the US did not hand over Dr Aafia till November 4, 2008.
Courtesy : The News