Beg shrugs off allegations

LAHORE - Former Army chief General (r) Aslam Beg has said that he was unaware of any disbursement of money in 1990 as the amount went to the President’s House and was not on his disposal. In an interview with Waqt News on Saturday, the former army chief said that he was amazed with the idea that mere Rs60 million was such a big amount that it could win an election.
He said: “No matter what the Supreme Court say about the rigging, I did not rig the election. The SC gave its verdict without probing into the scam. I was informed by my intelligence sources that the president transferred an amount into the disposal of the then ISI chief Lt General (r) Asad Durrani.
“I asked to the president Ghulam Ishaq Khan about the money, he said the amount will be transferred into ISI’s account. It was the responsibility of the ISI to maintain peace in Sindh and General Durrani told me that he needed funds to improve ISI’s performance there.”
He said that the confession letter Durrani had sent to Benazir Bhutto was contrary to his statement in the SC.
“Hamid Gul has nothing to do with this Mehran Bank scam. Though he was a catalyst in formation of the IJI, he was not my subordinate as the ISI was under president’s command. Why would I interfere in president’s affairs”, he added. He said he was unaware how the government would do his accountability but dispelled the notion that military general could not be held for their actions, saying that eight general were being tried.

ePaper - Nawaiwaqt