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Nearly two weeks before the University of Maine’s School of Policy and International Affairs was to host a prominent lecture by Husain Haqqani, then the Pakistani ambassador to the United States, he was forced to resign, leading the school to cancel the event indefinitely.
SPIA, a graduate program consisting of interdisciplinary studies that focus on the global implications of public policy, is known for attracting keynote speakers such as Haqqani.
But as tensions have escalated in recent months between the United States and Pakistan, its uneasy ally, Haqqani found himself embroiled in the stalemate after it was alleged he asked American government officials for assistance in curtailing the Pakistani military’s growing power in political issues.
Inopportunely, SPIA was forced to announce the lecture’s cancellation on Nov. 28 — just days after Haqqani resigned and returned to Pakistan in preparation for an investigation into the matter. He was slated to speak at UMaine on Dec. 5.
After facing pressure from officials in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, Haqqani resigned on Nov. 22.
According to The New York Times, the accusations revolve around a memo that Haqqani allegedly wanted delivered to Adm. Mike Mullen, the former joint chief of staff, asking him for American assistance in staving off a military-led coup in Pakistan.
Jim Settele, deputy director of SPIA, who also served as a military assistant to former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, said the memo was never taken seriously by Mullen and other American military officials.
Settele said it is also unclear who wrote the memo. He believes Haqqani was just being “a good team player” by taking the blame and tendering his resignation.
Since then, the Pakistani Supreme Court has revoked Haqqani’s right to leave the country after it began an investigation into the memo.
Pakistan also promptly appointed a new ambassador to Washington, D.C., naming longtime Pakistani politician,Sherry Rehman, to the position.
“Due to a recent political controversy in Pakistan, a talk by Mr. Husain Haqqani has been postponed indefinitely,” wrote Peter Fandel, an administrative officer with SPIA, in a posting on FirstClass. “Thank you again for your patience and flexibility.”
Haqqani was expected to discuss the strained relationship between two nations that have found themselves divided by geopolitical interests in recent years. The United States has become increasingly reliant on Pakistan’s border regions to transport fuel and other supplies to its forces in neighboring Afghanistan.
In doing so, American officials have cast a wary eye on Pakistan and have long suspected its government, particularly the Inter-Services Intelligence Agency, a powerful Pakistani spy agency, of harboring and funding terrorist networks that officials believe launch regular attacks against NATO forces in Afghanistan.
Similarly, Pakistan has made it a top priority to be treated as an equal partner in a relationship that is often threatened and exasperated by issues surrounding its sovereignty.
Most recently, NATO aircraft attacked a military checkpoint in northwest Pakistan, killing 25 of its soldiers in what is being portrayed as a communication breakdown.
The incident stoked outrage among the Pakistani public and led one military spokesman to call the attack an “unprovoked” and “indiscriminate” move aimed at undermining the country’s sovereignty, according to a report from the international news service Reuters.
Fandel said SPIA has “invited Haqqani to address the UMaine community at some point in the future as a private citizen.”
At this point, whether the event will be rescheduled is unclear.
“Trying to predict the direction the Pakistani government will take this in is very difficult,” Settele said. “I’d rather play the craps tables in Las Vegas — so at this point it’s hard to say when he’ll speak here.”
Settele added that Haqqani has indicated through his spokesman that he would like to continue his work in the United States, something Settele believes will eventually lead to an appearance at UMaine.
Haqqani is widely regarded to be an advocate of strong U.S.-Pakistani relations and he has been a staunch critic of Pakistan’s military leadership, earning him an unfavorable reputation in some Pakistani circles, according to Settele.
“It’s my understanding there are threats against his life at the moment,” Settele said. “So I imagine he’s being very careful right now.”
Bangor Daily News