PM sacks Tariq Fatemi over Dawn Leaks controversy
PM sacks Tariq Fatemi over Dawn Leaks controversy: Dawn leaks’ prime accused, Tariq Fatemi, has been removed from his position as special assistant to the prime minister, on the advice of Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.
It is pertinent to mention here that according to the report prepared by Justice (r) Aamir Raza, Fatimi, former information minister Pevaiz Rashid and Principal Information Officer Rao Tehseen were found responsible for leaking sensitive information of a meeting to a reporter of the leading English daily, Dawn.
The government had set up the inquiry committee last year to probe the controversy surrounding a controversial report by daily Dawn about a key meeting on national security.
According to the inquiry committee report, Fatemi was primarily responsible for leaking report of the key meeting to the newspaper without due permission.
The Ministry of Interior (MoI) on Tuesday said it received the report, compiled by a committee that probed into the publication in Dawn. The report was then presented to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
In the controversial story attributed to unnamed sources, Cyril Almeida had reported that in a high-level meeting on national security held on October 3 last year, the civilian leaders had spoken about the ‘growing diplomatic isolation’ of Pakistan for lack of action against some militant groups.
Reportedly the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) director general was present in the meeting attended by a number of functionaries including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shehbaz Sharif.
The new report had whipped up a storm and while the federal government had repeatedly denied it as ‘fabricated and planted’, the top army brass had called it a breach of trust on national security.
Last year on November 7, the MoI notified a seven-member committee – headed by a retired judge Aamer Raza Khan – to probe the controversy. The panel was supposed to submit its report within next 30 days. However, later on it was given one-month extension by the ministry to complete its task.
One member each from the ISI, Military Intelligence and Intelligence Bureau were included in the panel. Establishment Secretary Tahir Shahbaz, Punjab’s Ombudsman Najam Saeed and the Federal Investigation Agency Director Usman Anwar were also part of the committee.
The committee was assigned the job to establish the identity of those who allegedly planted the story. Former information minister Pervaiz Rashid has already lost his portfolio on grounds that he failed to play his role effectively to restrain the journalist from running the controversial story.
PM sacks Tariq Fatemi over Dawn Leaks controversy
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