Predecessor used 'Dawn leaks' to get extension, claims Gen Bajwa.

FORMER army chief retired Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa has reportedly said that there was nothing credible in the furore created over a Dawn story published in 2016, claiming that the issue was hyped up by his predecessor in a bid to secure an extension from then-prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

The claim surfaced in the second part of the former army chief's interview with journalist Shahid Maitla, published on Wednesday by the news website Pakistan24.tv.

In his latest article, the journalist claims the former army chief rejected the impression that the 'Dawn leaks' saga, as it came to be known, posed any threat to national security.

The Dawn story in question contained an account of a meeting between the country's civilian and military leadership, where the government told the brass that it should act against militants or the country would have to face international isolation.

In the wake of its publication, civil and military officials had called the story 'fabricated and concocted' and a committee headed by a retired judge and consisting of members of the country's intelligence agencies, was formed to inquire into the matter.

'In fact there was nothing in the Dawn leaks,' Mr Maitla quoted the former army chief as saying in response to a question.

'But wherever I would meet them, junior officers would ask me about [the issue]. I then talked to Chaudary Nisar [then-interior minister] and Ishaq Dar [then-finance minister] and suggested that they refer the cases of journalists [allegedly involved in the Dawn leaks affair] to CPNE because I didn't want to stir that hornet's nest. And then administrative action was decided against...

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