Tariq Fatemi says has nothing to do with Dawn leaks

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs Syed Tariq Fatemi has said that he is not resigning over the Dawn Leaks inquiry report which termed him and Principal Information Officer Rao Tehsin responsible for feeding of the sensitive news story, sources told ARY News on Tuesday.

ARY News’ Islamabad Bureau Chief Sabir Shakir reported that Fatemi attended at least three meetings in the foreign office today and he claimed that he has nothing to do with Dawn Leaks and none has demanded his resignation.

Tariq Fatemi called on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during which the said report was also discussed. Rumours were circulating that it is expected that the PM’s Special Assistant may resign soon.

On Monday, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had forwarded the report to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for further action.

The report had recommended the All-Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) to take action against the newspaper which ran the story on October 6, 2016.

Back in November, the government had constituted a four-member commission headed by former Lahore High Court Judge Amir Raza with a representative of the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Military Intelligence (MI) to inquire into the matter.

The interior ministry had added the name of Cyril Almeida,  the columnist cum reporter who reported the story, in the Exit Control List (ECL) which was later removed on October 14.

On the very same day, the military’s press wing had issued a separate statement calling the article a ‘breach of national security’.