Asma Jehangir to represent Haqqani in Memogate case

Leading Pakistani lawyer and rights activist Asma Jahangir has said that she would represent former Ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani in the Supreme Court in a case related to the controversial secret memo sent to the American military in May.

Jehangir, a former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, said Haqqani's wife Farahnaz Isphani had requested her to appear in the apex court as her husband's counsel.

"Yes, I will represent Husain Haqqani in the Memogate case being heard by the Supreme Court," she said.

The Supreme Court on Thursday sought responses from President Asif Ali Zardari, army chief Gen Ashfaq Kayani, Inter-Services Intelligence agency chief Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha, Haqqani and several others to a batch of petitions seeking a probe into the secret memo.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry also ordered the formation of a commission to probe the issue.

Haqqani resigned as Ambassador after the secret memo was made public by controversial Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz.

The memo had sought US help to prevent a military coup in Pakistan after the American raid that killed Osama bin Laden on May 2.