Odishatv Bureau
Islamabad: Pakistan`s former envoy to the US Husain Haqqani today said he had no plans to leave the country while the `memogate` scandal is being probed by the government, hours after the Supreme Court barred him from travelling abroad.

"I resigned to pave the way for a transparent investigation and intend to stay in my country for as long as necessary," he said. Haqqani, who recently resigned as Ambassador to the US, said no envoy could serve his country amidst a "swirl of media allegations initiated by a reckless individual".

The remark was an apparent reference to Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz, who made the secret memo public last month. Acting on several petitions seeking a probe into what the media is referring to as the `memogate` controversy, the Supreme Court today sought responses within 15 days from President Asif Ali Zardari, army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, ISI chief Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha, Haqqani and several others.

Haqqani said in a statement that the only thing which was known for sure about `Memogate` was that a private US businessman sent a memo through a retired US official to a then serving US official in May. The businessman then "revealed" the memo in an op-ed article, which levelled "serious allegations against Pakistan?s state institutions". The same businessman, Haqqani said, subsequently held him responsible for initiating the memo.

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