Geo TV's Hamid Mir Accused of Conspiracy

In a serial drama that promises a new twist every day, Hamid Mir has written a letter to The Washington Times newspaper responding to an article in that same newspaper on Monday that details the contents of the tapes and the storyline of the controversy. In his email, Hamid Mir makes clear that he no longer believes the government is behind any conspiracy but that it is elements within the intelligence community who were involved with the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

Hamid Mir’s email, published in full by The Washington Times contradicts recent claims by some of his colleagues that the government was behind the conspiracy:

Initially a government senator was also attacking me on different TV channels but Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira clearly said on May 25 that Hamid Mir is a target of a conspiracy and government have nothing against him. President Zardari has also cleared it to me personally that nobody from [the Pakistan People's Party] is involved in this conspiracy.

Hamid Mir goes on to identify those he now suspects as being members of intelligence who are retaliating for an article he wrote critical of a General.

I am forced to believe that some elements in the intelligence used my media colleagues against me because I was not in control of any intelligence outfit. One of my crimes was that I wrote an article against a serving general of the Pakistan Army.

But this is not just any General that Hamid Mir refers to, and this is what makes his claim really quite explosive, I think:

I am still not sure that who is my actual enemy because nobody have come out openly against me yet. There is no FIR (police complaint), no official inquiry and nobody contacted me for any investigation. According to my information, this whole drama was organized after one of my articles against a serving Army General, Nadeem Ejaz, was published in The News on April 26.This General was involved in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

Hamid Mir still considers The Daily Times deeply implicated in the plot, though he does admit, “I am still not sure that who is my actual enemy…”

The new story does open some strange new twists, though. Hamid Mir claims that his voice is real, but that the militant is fake.

I think this militant is fake and somebody recorded his voice and fitted in a so-called conversation with me.

At the end of the same paragraph, though, he says that his voice also is doctored.

Here I am sure that they used my doctored voice but incorrect information about me never helped them.

At the end of Hamid Mir’s long and detailed email, I’m afraid we don’t really know more than we did before. The allegation of retaliation by pro-Nadeem Ejaz elements in the  intelligence may be more plausible than a conspiracy to silence all government criticism, but still Hamid Mir does not tell anything new or provide any evidence. There is only more speculation.

As this case continues to build international attention, it becomes all the more important that the facts come out. As we mentioned yesterday, it will be important that Jang and Geo conduct their own investigation and release the findings with the backing evidence. Only then will we able to close this case for good.