ISLAMABAD (Agencies) – Pakistan Army stressed its loyalty to civilian politics after diplomatic correspondence leaked by whistleblowers WikiLeaks said the military had considered deposing the country’s president.
Cables from the US embassy in Islamabad obtained by WikiLeaks and reported in The New York Times and The Guardian newspapers this week also said President Asif Ali Zardari had made preparations for a coup.
One cable cited by both newspapers quoted US Vice-President Joe Biden recounting to BritainÂ’s then prime minister Gordon Brown a conversation with Zardari last year, in which Zardari told Biden he feared assassination.
Zardari, the cable said, had told the US vice-president that Pakistan’s army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani, and the Inter-Services Intelligence agency “will take me out.”
In the military’s first response to the allegations, spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said Saturday “the army has a demonstrated policy of supporting the political process within the confines of constitution of Pakistan.”
Abbas also said that Kayani “holds all national leaders in esteem,” including the main opposition leader Nawaz Sharif.
According to a cable quoted by The New York Times, Kayani told the US ambassador during a March 2009 meeting that he “might, however reluctantly,” pressure Zardari to resign.
Kayani was quoted as saying that he might support Asfandyar Wali Khan, leader of the opposition Awami National League Party, as the new president – but not Nawaz Sharif.
Kayani aired the idea during a round of meetings with Patterson in March 2009 as opposition leader Nawaz Sharif rallied thousands of supporters in a street movement that threatened to topple the government.
The general said that while he disliked Zardari, he distrusted Sharif even more, and appeared to be angling for a solution that would prevent the opposition leader from coming to power.
The cable illustrates the strong behind-the-scenes hand of PakistanÂ’s military in civilian politics only six months after military ruler General Pervez Musharraf resigned.
The crisis was sparked by ZardariÂ’s attempt to bar Sharif from running for parliament and his refusal to reinstate the deposed chief justice, Iftikhar Chaudhry. As a powerful protest movement of opposition supporters and lawyers grew in Lahore, western diplomats scrambled to defuse the situation with KayaniÂ’s help.
Kayani is a low-profile military man said to be well regarded by his US counterparts.