Islamabad, January 8
Fissures within the ruling PPP have come to the fore as Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani reportedly did not consult Asif Ali Zardari before firing the President’s hand-picked NSA Mahmud Ali Durrani, who had confirmed Mumbai attacker Ajmal Kasab's Pakistani nationality to the media.

Hours after Indian and Pakistani media yesterday quoted Durrani as saying that Islamabad’s preliminary probe has established Kasab is a Pakistani, an angry Gilani sacked his National Security Adviser, who was chosen for the top post by Zardari last year. An official statement said Durrani was removed for his ‘irresponsible behaviour’ and for failing to take Gilani and the government into confidence on national security issues.

Geo News reported that a furious Gilani telephoned the channel and said Durrani’s comments had embarrassed the government and damaged Pakistan's image. However, media reports said Durrani had cleared his admission of Kasab's Pakistani nationality with the powerful army, the intelligence set-up and the presidency.

The pro-establishment ‘The News’ daily said that Gilani sacked Durrani without consulting President Zardari.

Zardari learnt of Durrani’s removal from media reports and was informed about the move only after Gilani had made the decision, the report said. After he was sacked, Durrani said he had done nothing wrong and that he was ‘supposed’ to tell media about Kasab's Pakistani nationality.

“I have not done anything wrong. I wish the government good luck in tackling security issues. I was supposed to tell media that Kasab is Pakistani,” Durrani told the private Indian channel NDTV last night.

Government sources and media reports have suggested over the past few weeks that tensions have emerged between Zardari and Gilani, who feels he does not have much say in the decision-making process. Gilani is also reportedly unhappy about the presidency’s direct involvement in the running of the government. He has now reportedly decided to assert his authority and not allow anyone to ‘transgress’ it, 'The News' reported. In this regard, he made several changes in the senior bureaucracy last week without consulting anyone.

The premier’s decision to sack the ‘highly-influential member of his Cabinet immediately sparked speculations about growing fissures within the ruling PPP and perhaps among the various pillars of the establishment on the handling of crucial and sensitive matters of national security’, the Dawn newspaper reported. There was significant confusion last evening after two Pakistani news channels quoted official sources as saying that a preliminary investigation had established that Kasab is a Pakistani national.

Soon after, foreign secretary Salman Bashir told an Indian news channel that the Pakistani probe had not confirmed Kasab’s nationality. Within an hour, Bashir was contradicted by Information Minister Sherry Rehman and the foreign office spokesman, who acknowledged Kasab as a Pakistani citizen. Some reports suggested that Gilani fired Durrani because the PM had been deprived of the opportunity of making the findings of the investigation public. Pakistan’s political establishment was surprised when Zardari brought Durrani on board as the NSA last year despite his links to the regime of former President Pervez Musharraf. — PTI