Pak businessman refutes government's claim on coup article

A US-based businessman has claimed that he has "crystal clear" evidence to back his claim that he acted as an intermediary between President Asif Ali Zardari and the US administration to avert a military coup in wake of the unilateral US raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

Mansoor Ijaz's comments came after Pakistan government rejected his claims, that detailed his role in Zardari's efforts to reach out to the Obama administration to ask it to stop army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani from staging a coup following the May 2 Abbottabad raid, in an article in the Financial Times on October 10.

Though the article created a flutter in Pakistani political circles, the government maintained silence on it for over two weeks.

The Foreign Office denied Ijaz's assertions on October 28 while presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar issued a denial the following day. Ijaz responded to the denials yesterday in a statement issued from Zurich, saying he had proof to back up his claim.

"I have the facts ?" all the facts. Every word I say or write is backed with hard evidence and proof. Challenging me on that would be a grave mistake," he said.

Ijaz reminded the Foreign Office, presidential spokesperson Babar and Zardari that "the facts I have are irrefutable." He added: "The evidence is crystal clear."