The Pakistani military on Saturday dismissed as "absurd and
baseless" a British newspaper's report that the Inter-Services
Intelligence agency was behind a defamation campaign against Foreign Minister
Hina Rabbani Khar and PPP chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
A spokesperson for the Inter-Services Public Relations denied The
Telegraph's allegation that the ISI was running a defamation campaign
through the Bangladeshi tabloid Blitz against Khar and Bilawal, the chairman of
the ruling Pakistan People's Party.
"These allegations are absurd and baseless. The ISI has nothing to do
with this defamation campaign and neither any problem exists between the
Foreign Minister and the agency," the spokesman said in a statement.
The defamation campaign was the "handiwork of those who want to weaken
the state by creating misunderstanding between various institutions", the
spokesperson said.
"It is not something new because such people have been fabricating
misleading and impish stories in the past as well," he added.
The Telegraph, the spokesman said, "needs to behave more responsibly
and confirm veracity of information from respective entities before printing
such malicious stories". He described media reports involving Pakistani
military agencies as "rubbish and part of a propaganda campaign".
He further said the military reserves the right to "take legal action
on such anonymous reports without quoting any names and sources".
The Bangladeshi tabloid's claim that 34-year-old Khar and 24-year-old
Bilawal were involved in a relationship had triggered speculation about the
fate of the Foreign Minister’s marriage with industrialist Feroz Gulzar.
Both Khar and Gulzar have dismissed the tabloid's report as "reprehensible"
and "trash". However, The Telegraph had quoted unnamed "senior
PPP figures" as saying that they believed the claims about Khar were part
of a plot by the ISI to damage her reputation because it blamed her "for
her part in facilitating a UN investigation into thousands of missing people
detained by the security forces".
The Pakistani military on Saturday dismissed as "absurd and
baseless" a British newspaper's report that the Inter-Services
Intelligence agency was behind a defamation campaign against Foreign Minister
Hina Rabbani Khar and PPP chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
A spokesman for the Inter-Services Public Relations denied The Telegraph's
allegation that the ISI was running a defamation campaign through the
Bangladeshi tabloid Blitz against Khar and Bilawal, the chairman of the ruling
Pakistan People's Party.
"These allegations are absurd and baseless. The ISI has nothing to do
with this defamation campaign and neither any problem exists between the
Foreign Minister and the agency," the spokesman said in a statement.
The defamation campaign was the "handiwork of those who want to weaken
the state by creating misunderstanding between various institutions", the
spokesman said.
"It is not something new because such people have been fabricating
misleading and impish stories in the past as well," he added.
The Telegraph, the spokesman said, "needs to behave more responsibly
and confirm veracity of information from respective entities before printing
such malicious stories". He described media reports involving Pakistani
military agencies as "rubbish and part of a propaganda campaign".
He further said the military reserves the right to "take legal action
on such anonymous reports without quoting any names and sources".
The Bangladeshi tabloid's claim that 34-year-old Khar and 24-year-old
Bilawal were involved in a relationship had triggered speculation about the
fate of the Foreign Minister’s marriage with industrialist Feroz Gulzar.
Both Khar and Gulzar have dismissed the tabloid's report as
"reprehensible" and "trash". However, The Telegraph had
quoted unnamed "senior PPP figures" as saying that they believed the
claims about Khar were part of a plot by the ISI to damage her reputation
because it blamed her "for her part in facilitating a UN investigation
into thousands of missing people detained by the security forces".
