Mansoor Ijaz
| Mansoor Ijaz | |
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| Born | 1961 Tallahassee, Florida |
| Nationality | United States |
| Alma mater | 1979-1983 University of Virginia 1983-1985 M.I.T. 1983-1986 Harvard-MIT M.E.M.P. |
| Occupation | Team Owner Lotus F1 Hedge Fund Management Venture Capitalist News Analyst & Opinion Writer |
| Religion | Islam |
| Spouse(s) | Mdme Valerie Ijaz |
| Children | 5 |
Mansoor Ijaz (born 1961) is an American businessman of Pakistani ancestry. He is an investment banker and media commentator, mostly in relation to Pakistan, Iraq and Afghanistan.[1] He is the founder and chairman of Crescent Investment Management Ltd, a New York investment partnership since 1990 that includes retired General James Alan Abrahamson, former director of President Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative. Ijaz has had ties to former CIA Director R. James Woolsey, Jr..
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Personal Life[edit]
Mansoor Ijaz was born in Tallahassee, Florida and grew up on a farm in rural Virginia.[2] Ijaz received his bachelor's degree in physics from the University of Virginia in 1983 and master's degree in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1985, where he was trained as a neural sciences engineer in the Harvard Medical School-MIT Medical Engineering Medical Physics Program.
His father, Dr. Mujaddid Ahmad Ijaz (July 16, 1937— July 14, 1992) was a Pakistani theoretical physicist and professor of physics at Virginia Tech[3] who was noted and known for his work with sub-atomic and hypothetical particles, and his early role in the development of Pakistan's nuclear energy programme.
Ijaz developed CARAT, a currency, interest rate and equity risk management system. He started his own investment firm in 1990. Away from Crescent's daily business affairs, Ijaz served on the College Foundation Board of Trustees at the University of Virginia and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Ijaz made a cameo appearance in music video in 2004 by DJ Junior Jack.
Formula One[edit]
On June 18, 2013, Genii Capital announced that it had sold a stake of 35% in Lotus F1 Team Limited (Lotus F1), a leading contender in Formula One's Constructor's Championship, to Infinity Racing Partners Limited, an investor consortium comprised of an American hedge-fund management group (presumably Ijaz's), an Abu Dhabi-based business group headed by Suhail Al Dhaheri and a royal family (presumed to be a member of the Brunei family from the business address available in Companies House documents for one of the consortium's component partners). The deal was made for an undisclosed sum.
Ijaz is chairman of Infinity Racing Partners Limited. In a press statement [4] released by Genii Capital's principals, Gerard Lopez and Eric Lux, the team owners highlighted technological developments Infinity could bring to assisting Lotus F1's race cars as engine configurations change in the 2014 season. Lopez and Lux also cited the global network of Infinity Racing's principal partners and how this could potentially increase sponsorship revenues flowing to Lotus F1.
Ijaz's younger brother, Mujeeb Ijaz, [5] is a noted expert in the field of Lithium technologies and systems integration.
Gerard Lopez continues as chairman of Lotus F1 Team Limited's board of directors. Ijaz and Abu Dhabi-based Al Dhaheri, chairman of Al Manhal International Group LLC, will join the board of Lotus F1 Team Limited. No management changes were expected as a result of the acquisition, the press statement said.
Media Commentator[edit]
He used to appear regularly on a variety of financial and political news programs for CNN [1] [2], Fox News, BBC, Germany’s ARD TV, Japan’s NHK, ABC and NBC. He has commented for PBS’ Newshour with Jim Lehrer [3], [4], [5], [6] and ABC News Nightline with Ted Koppel. Ijaz has been featured twice in Barron's Currency Roundtable discussions. He has also contributed to the editorial pages of London’s Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The International Herald Tribune, Newsweek International, The Christian Science Monitor, The Weekly Standard, National Review, USA Today, and the Times of India. He endorsed views in the period prior to the Iraq War, later proven to be false, that included the presence of WMDs in Iraq and ties between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda. Among other topics, he has commented on the lack of wisdom in letting politics and policymakers ignore good intelligence, vis-à-vis changes in the Muslim world[6] and nuclear proliferation [7]
Ijaz was a Fox News Analyst and played a popular role on Special Report. He was a frequent guest on the show and appeared on various Fox programs on more than 100 occasions. He articulated opinions on a wide array of subjects, including some that supported the Bush administration's policies on Iraq and Afghanistan. Some media outlets categorized his views as neo-conservative, placing him in the same category of analysts such as former CIA Director R. James Woolsey Jr., former Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and former Defense Policy Board chairman Richard Perle. [8]
In 2006, in an interview with Gulf News, Ijaz claimed that Iran already had a nuclear bomb and that US think-tanks were already formulating strategies to overthrow the Iranian Government. His opinion appeared in an interview published in Gulf News, a Dubai-based newspaper. [9]
International Negotiator[edit]
Mansoor Ijaz has been involved in unofficial negotiations between US and Sudanese governments with regard to extradition of Osama bin Laden. In 1996 the United States Congress had imposed sanctions against the Sudanese government over the terrorist operations on its soil.[10] Mansoor Ijaz reportedly tried to negotiate a deal between Sudan's president Omar al-Bashir and Clinton administration officials including Sandy Berger. Ijaz argued the U.S. should adopt a policy of "constructive engagement" with Sudan, in return for deporting Osama bin Laden.[11] However bin Laden made his way to Afghanistan after the deportation from Sudan. According to Ijaz, that was a missed opportunity to capture bin Laden who has not even been indicted by US authorities,[12] a claim that Clinton's administration has denied[citation needed]. The 9/11 Commission found that although "former Sudanese officials claim that Sudan offered to expel Bin Laden to the United States", "we have not found any reliable evidence to support the Sudanese claim.".[13]
Statements Regarding bin Laden[edit]
According to Ijaz, the Sudanese government offered the Clinton administration numerous opportunities to arrest bin Laden and those opportunities were met positively by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright but spurned when Susan Rice and counter-terrorism czar Richard Clarke persuaded National Security Advisor Sandy Berger to overrule Albright.
Ijaz’s claims in this regard appeared in numerous Op-Ed pieces including one in the Los Angeles Times [14] and one in the Washington Post co-written with former Ambassador to Sudan Timothy M. Carney .[15]
Similar allegations have been made by Vanity Fair contributing editor David Rose[16] and Richard Miniter, author of Losing bin Laden, in a November 2003 interview with World.[17]
Several sources dispute Ijaz's claim, including the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks on the United States (the 9-11 Commission) which concluded in part “Sudan's minister of defense, Fatih Erwa, has claimed that Sudan offered to hand Bin Laden over to the United States. The Commission has found no credible evidence that this was so. Ambassador Carney had instructions only to push the Sudanese to expel Bin Laden. Ambassador Carney had no legal basis to ask for more from the Sudanese since, at the time, there was no indictment outstanding.” [18]
Memogate[edit]
Mansoor Ijaz was involved in the memogate controversy, which revolves around a memorandum seeking help of the Obama administration to avert a military takeover of the civilian government in Pakistan in the wake of the Osama bin Laden raid, and to assist in a civilian takeover of the military apparatus.[19] The contents of the confidential memo, addressed to Admiral Mike Mullen, were published in their entirety on Foreign Policy magazine's website on November 17, 2011.[20]
Ijaz alleged that former Pakistan Ambassador to the United States Husain Haqqani asked him to deliver the confidential memo[21] asking for US assistance. The memo is alleged to have been drafted by Haqqani at the behest of President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari.[22] The Supreme Court of Pakistan has opened a broader inquiry into the origins, credibility and purpose of the memo.[23]
On June 12, 2012, according to a report released by the Judicial Commission tasked with investigating the origins, purpose and authenticity of the memorandum, it found that the alleged memorandum was authentic and that former ambassador Husain Haqqani was its "originator and architect". The report said he had in fact sought US support through the memo and wanted to head a new national security team in Pakistan. The report also stated that Haqqani was not loyal to Pakistan as he had left the country, had no material assets in Pakistan and was now living abroad. The Supreme Court, upon hearing the report in session, ordered the former ambassador to appear before the bench in its next hearing and adjourned the case for two weeks until early July 2012.[24]
The Judicial Commission report also exonerated President Zardari from any prior knowledge of the memorandum, although it noted that in the "considered view" of the justices, Haqqani had led Ijaz to believe the memorandum had the Pakistani president's approval. [25]
References[edit]
- ^ CNN (October 18, 2001) Mansoor Ijaz: The Pakistan perspective (CNN interview of Ijaz) Obtained February 14, 2007.
- ^ Rediff.com (November 28, 2000) The Rediff Interview/ Mansoor Ijaz Obtained February 14, 2007.
- ^ Newsweek Pakistan Ahmed, Fasih (02 December 2011). "Who in the World is Mansoor Ijaz?".
- ^ ESPN "Genii sells 35% of Lotus to Infinity Racing". 18 June 2013.
- ^ Boston Globe "Venture unit may give A123 a fresh start". 01 May 2013.
- ^ Carney, Timothy; Ijaz, Mansoor (30 June 2002). "Intelligence Failure? Let's Go Back to Sudan". The Washington Post.
- ^ http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/003/575nerhn.asp?pg=1
- ^ http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1187
- ^ http://gulfnews.com/news/region/iran/iran-has-bomb-and-trying-to-make-more-1.222961
- ^ Gellman, Barton (October 3, 2001). "U.S. Was Foiled Multiple Times in Efforts To Capture Bin Laden or Have Him Killed". The Washington Post.
- ^ http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/1997_hr/h970610i.htm
- ^ http://www.benadorassociates.com/article/568
- ^ http://www.9-11commission.gov/staff_statements/staff_statement_5.pdf
- ^ Ijaz, Mansoor (December 5, 2001). "Clinton Let Bin Laden Slip Away and Metastasize". The Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Carney, Timothy; Mansoor Ijaz (June 30, 2002). "Intelligence Failure? Let's Go Back to Sudan". Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-12-01.
- ^ Rose, David (January, 2002). "The Osama Files". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2008-12-01.
- ^ Belz, Mindy (November 1, 2003). "'Clinton did not have the will to respond'". World. Retrieved 2008-12-01.
- ^ http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/911Report_Ch4.htm
- ^ "Pakistan US ambassador offers to resign over 'memogate'". BBC News Asia. 17 November 2011. Retrieved 24 November 2011.
- ^ "Contents of the Mullen Memorandum". Foreign Policy. 17 November 2011. Retrieved 24 November 2011.
- ^ "A dangerous path for Pakistan, says Mansoor Ijaz". The News. 31 October 2011. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
- ^ "Ambassador Haqqani again denies sending memo". Geo News. Retrieved 24 November 2011.
- ^ Abott, Sebastian. "Pakistani Judicial Commission To Probe Memo Scandal". Associated Press. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
- ^ Haqqani sought US support through memo, The News International, June 12, 2012
- ^ Khan, Azam. "'Boss' Zardari had no involvement in Memogate". Express Tribune. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
External links[edit]
- His testimony to House Judiciary Committee Sub-Committee on Terrorism and Crime, June 10, 1997
- His November 2000 interview with rediff.com on Kashmir's ceasefire
- Conversation with Deepak Chopra about averted Pakistani coup (45:43), 12-30-11
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