PM Nawaz, Army Chief discuss 'Dawn Leaks' in key meeting

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa held a meeting to discuss the Dawn Leaks issue, ARY News reported.

The Army Chief and the Prime Minister were agreed over the amicable settlement of the issue in the meeting, sources said.

The Prime Minister’s Office on April 29, had issued directives for the removal of Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi and Principal Information Officer Rao Tehseen in line with the recommendations of the committee set up to hold the inquiry into a report of Dawn newspaper on a national security meeting published in October last year.

The notification issued by the prime minister’s principal secretary not accepted by the military. Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) chief Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor, through a Twitter posting, termed the notification “incomplete” and “rejected” it.

During the meeting both sides agreed to resolve the issue of the inquiry in an amicable manner, sources said.

According to sources, a committee formed by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to address the reservations of the army, also included Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had contacted the military high command which led to a meeting between the Army Chief and the prime minister.

The meeting decided to solve the matter amicably. It was also decided that the government will issue another notification on the matter after review of the Dawn Leaks report.