In this picture from August, 2010, Pakistani ambassador to Washington Hussein Haqqani, right, talks with Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari in Multan, Pakistan.B.K.BANGASH/AP
Pakistan's ambassador to the United States, Hussein Haqqani, has resigned after being called back to Islamabad to explain his alleged role in writing and delivering a memo to the top branches of the U.S. military – a memo that effectively asked for American help to stop a military takeover of Pakistan's civilian government in the days after the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
The scandal has gripped Pakistan for nearly a week as journalists and commentators tried to unravel a murky memo that was first made public in October.
At that time, Pakistani American businessman Mansoor Ijaz wrote a comment piece for the Financial Times in which he alleges he was asked by a senior Pakistani diplomat to write and help deliver a memo on behalf of Pakistan President Asif Zardari to the then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen.
The killing of Mr. bin Laden by U.S. Special Forces in Pakistan had severely damaged U.S.-Pakistani relations. The U.S. chose not to inform the Pakistani military or civilian government until after the raid, and the existence of the bin Laden compound in an army garrison town was embarrassing.
According to Mr. Ijaz, Mr. Zardari feared that an exposed Pakistan military would try to seize power from the civilian government to limit the fallout.
The memo, which has been seen by journalists, conveys the civilian government's offer to replace the army chief, and head of Pakistan's spy service, the Inter-Services Intelligence agency.
Last week, Mr. Ijaz alleged that the top diplomat who had asked him to write the memo was, in fact, Pakistan's ambassador to the United States, Hussein Haqqani.
Mr. Haqqani denied that he had anything to do with the memo, which was delivered nine days after Mr. bin Laden's death and did reach the desk of Admiral Mullen, who said, through a spokesman, that the memo was not signed and therefore he did not find it credible.
After being recalled to Islamabad on Sunday to face the President, the head of the army and the intelligence service, Mr. Haqqani, known for being quick with the tweet, posted his news on twitter on Tuesday.
"I have requested PM Gilani to accept my resignation as Pakistan ambassador to US," he said in a tweet. And in another tweet shortly after, he said: "I have much to contribute to building a new Pakistan free of bigotry and intolerance. Will focus energies on that."
For ordinary Pakistanis, the prospect of a weak and unpopular civilian government seeking U.S. help to rebalance the overwhelming influence of the Pakistan army is not far-fetched. Nor is the prospect of an army takeover in a country with a history of military rule.
But there are parts of the memo that are remarkable in their tone and message: "A unique window of opportunity exists for the civilians to gain the upper hand over army and intelligence directorates due to their complicity in the UBL matter," once section purportedly reads, using the acronym UBL for Bin Laden.
If the memo is, in fact, the Pakistani government's desperate message in the face of an impending military takeover, it implies a belief that the U.S. military can influence the Pakistan army. Most signs suggest otherwise: In spite of U.S. pressure, the Pakistan army has not gone after the network of insurgents based in Pakistan and staging attacks in Afghanistan.
For Mr. Haqqani's supporters, there is a strong feeling that he has been set-up by the Pakistan military, which he has antagonized in the past. Long before Mr. Haqqani became Pakistan's ambassador to the U.S. in 2008, he was journalist and author arguing for greater civilian oversight of the military and highlighting the problem of the military's jihadist links.