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Pakistan's embattled former ambassador to United States, Husain Haqqani, fears he will be murdered if he leaves his sanctuary in the official residence of the Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, a media report said on Wednesday.
Haqqani who is at the centre of the memo scandal said the allegations against him are part of a "psychological war" against Pakistan's civilian government by "certain powerful quarters."
Haqqani said he has been branded a "traitor" and a "Washington lackey" by "powerful quarters" -- a reference to the country's powerful ISI intelligence agency -- and that he now fears he will be murdered like his friend, the late governor of Punjab, Salman Taseer, who was shot dead by one of his own security guards last year after being branded a blasphemer", The Daily Telegraph said in its report.
Haqqani was forced to resign late last year after Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz claimed he had asked him to pass on a memo, on behalf of Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, to the American government calling for their help to oust Islamabad's military leadership.
Both Haqqani and Zardari have rejected Ijaz's claims. Haqqani told the daily that the allegations against him are false and part of a "psychological war" against the government of Zardari and Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani by "certain powerful quarters."