Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has been accused of ignoring deprecating remarks against PM Shaukat Aziz in Condoleezza Rice's recently released biography.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has been accused of ignoring deprecating remarks against Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's recently released biography.
"As a Pakistani, I am appalled and ashamed at the manner in which the character of the prime minister of Pakistan has been portrayed," a former minister wrote in a letter to Musharraf in May but he is yet to receive a reply, The News reported Tuesday.
"To cast aspersions on a head of government in the manner it has been done against the person of Shaukat Aziz shall always keep Pakistan and the individual open to ridicule for posterity," former minister of state for IT Ishaq Khan Khakwani wrote in the May 24 letter.
At issue is "Twice as Good: Condoleezza Rice and Her Path to Power" by Newsweek chief of correspondents and senior editor Marcus Mabry which mentions an incident that occurred during Rice's first visit to Pakistan in 2005.
"When Rice sat down with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, who fancied himself a ladies' man, Aziz puffed himself up and held forth in what he obviously thought was his seductive baritone. He bragged - to Western diplomats, no less - that he could conquer any woman in two minutes," Mabry writes.
"(He tried) this Savile Row-suited gigolo kind of charm: 'Pakistan is a country of rich traditions, staring in (Rice's) eyes... There was this test of wills where he was trying to use all his charms on her as a woman, and she just basically stared him down. By the end of the meeting, he was babbling."
"The Pakistanis were shifting uncomfortably. And his (Aziz's) voice visibly changed," the author writes.
Khakwani, in his letter to Musharraf, wrote: "If true, how he could have behaved in such serious business of the state during a high-profile meeting is beyond one's comprehension."
"He (PM) has let Pakistan down, and his president and the entire government. How the prime minister would be able to carry out his duties at home and abroad with any moral authority now, is a matter of serious concern," the letter maintained.
"I most humbly lay before you (Musharraf) that such setbacks and difficulties may please be seen as opportunities, specially in the light of what you have always vehemently advocated that Pakistan comes first," Khakwani contended.
The former minister says the letter created a rift between him and Aziz and he was compelled to step down.
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