Pak army on dawn leaks

RAWALPINDI: 

The Pakistan Army on Wednesday withdrew its earlier statement rejecting a notification from the Prime Minister’s Office on Dawn Leaks.

“The tweet on April 29, 2017 was not aimed at any government office or person. Recommendations as contained in paragraph 18 of the inquiry committee report, duly approved by the Prime Minister, have been implemented, which has settled the Dawn Leaks issue,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.

Accordingly, the ISPR said, Twitter post stands withdrawn and has become unnecessary.

“The tweet was a reaction to the incomplete notification issued at that time,” DG ISPR Major Gen Asif Ghafoor later told a press conference. “Now that the complete notification has been issued, the matter has been settled.”

He added, “Whatever followed the development is very regrettable… we appreciate the government’s efforts for not only bringing the reality to the fore but also removing any misunderstandings.”

Army also reiterated its firm commitment and continued resolve to uphold the country’s Constitution and support the democratic process.

The statement was followed by a high-level meeting between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa. DG ISI lt Gen Naveed Mukhtar was also present in the huddle, according to Express News.

Army rejects PM Office statement on Dawn Leaks report

The Dawn‘s staffer’s story, “Act against militants or face international isolation, civilians tell military” described what transpired in a high-level meeting in which the civil leadership allegedly criticised the military’s policies on militancy.

The army had expressed serious concern over the ‘feeding of false and fabricated story’, terming it a ‘breach of national security’.

The government repeatedly rebutted the story as ‘false and fabricated’, but the denials failed to satisfy the military, which called for unmasking and punishing those who had planted it.

On April 29, it rejected as ‘incomplete’ a notification, which said the prime minister had accepted the inquiry committee’s recommendations. The committee was formed on November 7 last year.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Interior, in a statement on Wednesday, also claimed that the Dawn Leaks issue stood settled.

“Since action on the orders of the prime minister has already been completed by the respective ministries and divisions, the issue of Dawn Leaks stands settled,” it said.

The recommendations, also mentioned in the interior ministry handout, included action against Principal Information Officer Rao Tehsin, the removal of Adviser to PM on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi, and action against Dawn Editor Zafar Abbas and correspondent Cyril Almeida.

Inquiry report holds Tariq Fatemi responsible for Dawn leaks

The committee had also called for devising a code of conduct for the print media in dealing with national security issues.

While a ‘lapse’ on part of Pervaiz Rashid vis-à-vis the ‘planted news story’ led to his resignation from the information ministry, Fatemi and Tehsin were sacked after the inquiry committee held them culpable for the ‘fabricated’ news story.