Pakistan Government Forms Committee to Investigate ‘Leak’ in Controversial News Report
The Pakistan government has formed a committee to investigate a leak that led to a controversial news report about a rift between the government and the powerful Army over support to militants in the country.
A rift between the civilian and military leaderships over Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)’s covert support to terror groups in the country was the subject of a news report on October 6 in the Dawn newspaper.
The probe committee, headed by a former High Court judge, will complete its job in 30 days and submit its findings to the government.
Justice (retd.) Aamir Raza Khan will be the chairman of the committee, which has representatives of the ISI, the Military Intelligence (MI) and the Intelligence Bureau (IB), according to the notification by the Interior Ministry.
The committee will enquire into the circumstances of the alleged leak and establish the identity of those responsible.
The government had sacked Information Minister Pervaiz Rasheed for failing to stop the story from being published.
A travel ban on Cyril Almeida, the journalist who wrote the story, had sparked massive criticism of the government and the military from media houses, journalist associations and civil society.
Mr. Almeida’s name was put on the Exit Control List but the ban was later lifted after a backlash against the government.
