Pak Interior Minister asserts complete consensus on Dawn story probe

Pakistan's Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar on Thursday claimed there was complete civil-military consensus on the Dawn leaks inquiry report.

The minister's remarks came a day after Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan took to Twitter to express his suspicion over the latest reconcilement between the civilian government and the military over the Dawn leaks issue.

Yesterday, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Major General Asif Ghafoor announced the decision to withdraw the ISPR's controversial tweet rejecting Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's directives on the recommendations of the report of the inquiry committee, set up to probe the publication of a Dawn story regarding a top-level meeting of civil-military leaders.

"It wasn't as big of an issue as it was made out to be," Nisar told reporters as he claimed there was "complete consensus" on the inquiry report despite there being "some... procedural issues" when it was announced.

"The order released from the PM's Office, it was an order to all ministries. The notification should not have been spread. When that happened, there was a misunderstanding that snowballed and was rectified yesterday," he added.

"If the government wanted to hide something, it wouldn't have made a committee and a big commission. Civil-military conflicts are not political, they are national [issues]. It is a sensitive area," Nisar claimed.

"The matter is settled now," he asserted.