Husain Haqqani (; born 1 July 1956) is a Pakistani journalist, academic, political activist, and former ambassador of Pakistan to Sri Lanka and the United States.

Haqqani has written four books on Pakistan, and his analyses have appeared in publications including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Foreign Affairs, and Foreign Policy.

Haqqani is currently a Senior Fellow and Director for South and Central Asia at the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C., and co-editor of Hudson's journal Current Trends in Islamist Ideology. He also is a Senior Research Fellow and Diplomat-in-Residence at the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy in Abu Dhabi, which serves as a training institute for diplomats of the United Arab Emirates.

Haqqani worked as a journalist from 1980 to 1988, and then as political adviser for Nawaz Sharif and later as a spokesperson for Benazir Bhutto. According to author Javed Jabbar, the Islami Jamhuri Ittihad (IJI) ran a smear campaign against Benazir and Nusrat Bhutto during the 1988 election campaign by circulating and doctoring photographs to portray the women as Westernized women who were unfit to lead an Islamic nation. Jabbar wrote that "one of the individuals who engineered this defamatory, scurrilous campaign was Husain Haqqani." From 1992 to 1993 he was ambassador to Sri Lanka. In 1999, he was exiled following criticisms against the government of then-President Pervez Musharraf. From 2004 to 2008 he taught international relations at Boston University. He was appointed as Pakistan's ambassador in April 2008, but his tenure ended after the Memogate incident, when the claim was made that he had been insufficiently protective of Pakistan's interests. A judicial commission was set up by the Supreme Court of Pakistan to probe the allegations against him. According to commission's report which was issued in June 2012, Haqqani was declared guilty of authoring a memo which called for direct US intervention into Pakistan, though Pakistan's Supreme Court noted that the commission was only expressing an opinion. In February 2019, Pakistan's Chief Justice suggested the entire Memogate affair was a waste of time, saying that "Pakistan was not so fragile a country that it could be rattled by the writing of a memo."

Early life and career Haqqani was born in an Urdu-speaking family in Karachi. His father had migrated to Pakistan from Delhi after the partition of India. Haqqani began his interest in journalism in high school. In 1973 he joined Karachi University. He frequently visited the library at the US consulate, reading volumes of American history. Later, when students wanted to attack the consulate as part of a protest against the United States, Haqqani refused.Khalid Hassan, Congressional leader praises Husain Haqqani's abilities, Pakistan Daily Times, 25 October 2008, Haqqani received a B.A. degree with distinction in 1977 and a MA degree in International Relations in 1980 from the University of Karachi.Husain Haqqani, curriculum vitae, Boston University, retrieved 2016-01-03.

Haqqani worked as a full-time journalist from 1980 to 1988. He covered the war in Afghanistan for Voice of America radio; served as the Pakistan and Afghanistan correspondent for Far Eastern Economic Review; and worked in Hong Kong as the East Asian correspondent for the London-based Arabia: the Islamic World Review as well as the Jamaat-e-Islami newspaper Jasarat. He worked for the state broadcaster Pakistan Television during the general elections of 1985.

Political career Haqqani started his political career at the University of Karachi, where he joined Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba, the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami and became president of the student union. Haqqani explained his association with Islamists as a student in an article in the Asian Wall Street Journal. "Over the last three decades, I have alternated between being attracted to and repulsed by political Islam." In recent years, he has emerged as a staunch critic of radical Islamist groups.

He started his national political career as a supporter of Zia-ul-Haq. In 1988, he worked in the political campaign for an alliance led by Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, who was subsequently appointed Prime Minister. In 1990 he became Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's special assistant and until 1992 functioned as his spokesman. From 1993 to 1995, he was spokesman to Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Haqqani's appointment as media advisor to Bhutto was opposed by her brother and mother because of his political past. Haqqani allegedly "orchestrated a campaign of dirty tricks against the Bhutto women, publishing leaflets which showed their faces superimposed on nude bodies," a claim refuted by Benazir Bhutto.

From 1995 to 1996, Haqqani was chairman of the House Building Finance Corporation.

Pakistani diplomat

In 1992 Husain Haqqani became one of Pakistan's youngest ambassadors, serving in Sri Lanka until 1993. He served as Pakistan's ambassador to the United States from 2008 during the government of Asif Ali Zardari. His tenure was not without controversy in Pakistan where he was called "Washington's ambassador to Pakistan," a play on his role of Pakistan's Ambassador in Washington, due to his pro-Western views. As a "pro-American ambassador in Washington," Haqqani provided visas for a large number of US operatives to enter Pakistan, under instructions from Islamabad, in the lead up to the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. He resigned in 2011 due to the memogate controversy.

Alleged secret memo and resignation

Roughly a week after the raid on Bin Laden, Haqqani reportedly asked a Pakistani American businessman Mansoor Ijaz to pass a message to the Americans, at the request of President Zardari, that the Pakistani military was planning to intervene. Ijaz revealed this in an opinion column in the Financial Times in October 2011, and mentioned that the message was communicated in an undated and unsigned memo sent to Admiral Michael Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US military. Later released to the press, the memo also spoke of a "unique window of opportunity" for the civilian government to gain the upper hand due to the military's complicity in the Bin Laden affair. According to Ijaz, the military intended to stage a coup to wash off the embarrassment issuing from the raid on Bin Laden, and he drafted the memo in consultation with Haqqani.

Haqqani resigned but denied writing the memo. He was recalled to Pakistan and accused of high treason. On the basis of a petition filed by the PML-N, the Supreme Court of Pakistan launched an investigation overriding the government, which had also started a parliamentary investigation.

While a judicial commission appointed by the Supreme Court of Pakistan investigated, Haqqani was not allowed to leave the country. He sought refuge in the presidential palace and later the Prime Minister's residence, citing threats to his life by extremist groups that accused him of treason.

In January 2012, Pakistan's Supreme Court allowed Haqqani to leave the country.BBC News Asia "Pakistan 'memogate': Husain Haqqani travel ban lifted", BBC, 30 January 2012. Accessed 2014-04-16. The Judicial Commission completed its investigation apparently without hearing from Haqqani, and submitted its report in June 2012 in sealed envelopes. It asserted that Haqqani had indeed authored the memo, whose purpose was taken to be assuring the United States that the civilian government was its ally.Pakistan Judicial Commission "Pages 108–121, Judicial Commission Report ", Supreme Court of Pakistan, 12 June 2012. Accessed 2014-03-24. It also declared that Haqqani had undermined the country's security and he had misled Ijaz to believe the memorandum had the Pakistani president's approval.Ahmad, Fasih and Taseer, Shehrbano "Pakistan: Judges Rebuke Haqqani in Memogate Scandal", The Daily Beast, 2012-06-13, Accessed 2 April 2014. The commission's report further stated that "Husain Haqqani was not loyal to Pakistan" in drafting that memo.

Pakistan's Supreme Court noted that the commission was only expressing its opinion.

Haqqani said the Commission's report was one-sided and defended his patriotismFrum, David "Haqqani: I am No Traitor", The Daily Beast, 2012-06-16, Accessed 2 April 2014. and his innocence.Hirsh, Michael "The Last Friendly Pakistani", The Atlantic, 2011-11-23, Accessed 2 April 2014. Haqqani has not returned to Pakistan, citing threats on his life.Masood, Salman "Former Ambassador to U.S. Cites Threats in Pakistan Over Memo Case", New York Times, 29 March 2012. Accessed 2014-04-16. In 2018, former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said it was a mistake to take up the case with the Supreme Court, suggesting the government had been acting under external pressure. In 2019, Pakistan's Supreme Court wrapped up the case saying that "the Supreme Court has nothing to do with this matter."

Relationship with Pakistan's military Husain Haqqani has long had a difficult relationship with Pakistan's military. Haqqani had made enemies among some in Pakistan's military due to his criticism of the Army. In 1999, he was kidnapped by Pakistani intelligence agents who roughed him up and held him for two months until a court ordered his release. The powerful Inter-Services Intelligence Agency (ISI) tried to stop Haqqani from being appointed Ambassador to the United States and kept him under regular surveillance during his tenure due to his criticism of the military.

There are, however, indications that Haqqani's relationship with the Pakistani military has improved. In December 2022, the Pakistani daily Dawn reported that Haqqani was subcontracted by former CIA Islamabad station chief Robert Grenier to conduct "research" on Pakistan. Grenier was acting as a registered lobbyist for the Pakistani government. The Dawn report cited a public disclosure filed by Grenier in November 2022 as required by the Foreign Agents Registration Act.Amendment fara.gov

Officials with ex-prime minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e Insaf (PTI) party allege that Haqqani was acting on behalf of a "senior figure in the [Pakistani] military establishment." Haqqani has denied these charges, but has not explained the nature of his work for a Pakistani government lobbyist. Since receiving payments from Grenier in September and October 2021, Haqqani has called for the U.S. and Pakistan to reengage. He has also praised the now-former army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa. In October 2022, a "study group" led by Haqqani released a report during Bajwa's visit to Washington calling for both countries to "find a way to work on areas of mutual concern."

As per Imran Khan, Haqqani was hired to lobby against his government in the US. Khan has cited the cypher leak controversy as proof of his ouster.

Relationship with the United Arab Emirates Haqqani has had a longtime relationship with the United Arab Emirates. He has served as a columnist for the UAE-based Gulf News for over two decades. In 2017, Haqqani appeared on a documentary critical of Qatar, titled "Qatar: A Dangerous Alliance," produced by a UAE-based company. In 2018, he spoke on human rights in Qatar at a London conference organized by the Foundation for Sports Integrity conference, which campaigned against Qatar's hosting of the 2022 football World Cup.

In 2023, Haqqani joined the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy in Abu Dhabi as a senior fellow.

Academic career