ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan called on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif here on Friday.
According to sources, the prime minister and interior minister discussed recommendations of the Dawn Leaks inquiry report. Points of the Interior Ministry’s expected notification also came under discussion.
Sources further added that the prime minister and interior minister also spoke of matters pertaining to security and governance.
Last week, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif approved the recommendations of the Dawn Leaks Inquiry committee, ordering the withdrawal of Fatemi’s portfolio and sanctioning Rao Tehseen Ali, the principal information officer at the Information Ministry.
The PM’s order said Tehseen Ali would be proceeded against under the E&D rules 1973 on the charges based on the findings of the report.
The PM’s order added that the editor of Dawn Newspaper, Zaffar Abbas, and reporter Cyril Almeida will be referred to the All Pakistan Newspaper Association (APNS) “for necessary disciplinary action.â€
The PM also ordered that APNS be asked to develop a code of conduct for the media, “especially when dealing with issues relating to security of Pakistan and to ensure that stories on issues of national importance and security are published by abiding to basic journalistic and editorial norms”.
But, in a tweet by the DG ISPR shortly after the PM’s order, the Pakistan Army rejected the government notification, saying it was “incomplete and not in line with recommendations by the Inquiry Board.”
The English-language daily, Dawn, had published the story on October 6, last year, in which journalist Cyril Almeida had written about an alleged civil-military rift during a National Security Committee (NSC) meeting over the issue of tackling jihadi outfits.
The story stirred a major controversy last year, resulting in resignation of Information Minister Pervaiz Rasheed and Almeida coming under fire.
An inquiry committee was formed comprising one member each from the ISI, MI and IB, Secretary Establishment, Tahir Shahbaz, Ombudsman Punjab Najam Saeed, and an FIA director.
The inquiry committee in its report had placed blame on Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi and Principal Information Officer at the Press Information Department Rao Tehsin, sources had earlier told the media.
Sources said the report termed the publishing of the story a failure on part of some government institutions including Information Ministry and Foreign Ministry.
