Islamabad:
The memogate scandal continues to cast its shadow in Pakistan and the political ripples that are being felt have intensified speculation of early polls despite repeated denials from Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.
Leading civil rights activist Asma Jahangir has accused the Supreme Court-appointed commission investigating the scandal of acting under the influence of the military. Ms Jahangir, who quit as counsel for Pakistan's former ambassador to the US, Husain Haqqani, accused the army and the ISI of trying to ensnare him.
Ms Jahangir said that she had no confidence in the commission investigating the scandal of the alleged secret memo seeking American help to stave off a military coup after the covert raid in Abbottabad that killed Osama bin Laden in May.
Elections are due in February 2013 but doubts are being expressed about the civilian government's ability to survive the full term after the alleged memo strained its relations with the country's powerful military.
There are signs of a realignment of political forces with the emergence of Imran Khan's Tehrik-e-Insaaf as a major threat to the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP). The cricketer-turned-politician's party, which drew an impressive crowd at a rally in Karachi last week, has indicated that it is open to an alliance with former President Pervez Musharraf. Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who recently quit the PPP to join Mr Khan's party, has said that a decision will be taken in due course.
The judicial commission probing the scandal has directed Mr Haqqani to appear before it on January 9. The commission, which held its first meeting on Monday, again issued notices to chief of Pakistani spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence, Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha, Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz who created a storm in Pakistan's diplomatic and political circles by making the memo public, former US National Security Advisor James Jones and other respondents to appear before it.
The commission has directed the government to provide Mr Haqqani "requisite security" for his appearance and an opportunity to engage a lawyer for the proceedings. It also asked the government to provide security to Mr Ijaz when he came to Pakistan.
The commission directed government officials to obtain records of all BlackBerry communications between Mr Haqqani and Mr Ijaz. The commission has said that the ISI chief was required to appear to provide evidence about the contacts between Mr Ijaz and Mr Haqqani.
Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir, who appeared before the commission on Monday, informed the panel that no departmental action had been taken against Mr Haqqani. Asked how many times Mr Haqqani had met Mr Ijaz, Mr Bashir replied the Foreign Ministry had no records about the memo and Mr Haqqani's appointments.
The panel asked Mr Bashir to inform it at the next hearing about the former envoy's meetings and any procedure that was in place to check whether ambassadors were working according to the government's policy.
The panel has said that everybody would be given full opportunity for cross-examination and promised that the proceedings would be transparent.
(With inputs from PTI)