Mansoor Ijaz
Encyclopedia
Mansoor Ijaz is an American businessman of Pakistan
i Ancestry. He is an investment banker and media commentator, mostly in relation to Pakistan
, Iraq
and Afghanistan
. . He is the founder and chairman of Crescent Investment Management LLC, 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 James Woolsey. Ijaz is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
and grew up on a farm in rural Virginia
. Ijaz received his bachelor's degree in nuclear 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. His father, Dr. Mujaddid Ahmad Ijaz
, was a theoretical physicist who played a major role in nuclear detterence development throughout 1970s and 1980s, and was a pioneering figure in the designing of the weapons.
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 serves on the College Foundation Board of Trustees at the University of Virginia and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations
.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0301/01/ltm.04.html http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0301/02/i_qaa.01.html, Fox News, BBC
, Germany’s ARD TV, Japan’s NHK, ABC
and NBC
. He has commented for PBS
’ Newshour with Jim Lehrer
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/asia/july-dec99/pakistan_10-13.html, http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/international/july-dec99/hijackers_12-28.html, http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/terrorism/july-dec01/powell_10-15.html, http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/media/jan-june02/pearl_1-29.html 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 commented on the Osama bin Laden and Nuclear Proliferation
had imposed sanctions against the Sudanese government over the terrorist operations on its soil. 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. 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, a claim that Clinton's administration has denied . 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.".
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
and one in the Washington Post co-written with former Ambassador to Sudan Timothy M. Carney
.
Similar allegations have been made by Vanity Fair contributing editor David Rose and Richard Miniter
, author of Losing bin Laden, in a November 2003 interview with World
.
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.”
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
i Ancestry. He is an investment banker and media commentator, mostly in relation to Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
and Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
. . He is the founder and chairman of Crescent Investment Management LLC, a New York investment partnership since 1990 that includes retired General James Alan Abrahamson
James Alan Abrahamson
James Alan Abrahamson is a retired general, a designated astronaut, director of the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization, and successful businessman who was chairman of Oracle and as chairman of GeoEye transformed that company into the world's largest space imaging corporation.-Early...
, former director of President Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative
Strategic Defense Initiative
The Strategic Defense Initiative was proposed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan on March 23, 1983 to use ground and space-based systems to protect the United States from attack by strategic nuclear ballistic missiles. The initiative focused on strategic defense rather than the prior strategic...
. Ijaz has had ties to former CIA Director James Woolsey. Ijaz is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Life
Mansoor Ijaz was born in Tallahassee, FloridaFlorida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
and grew up on a farm in rural Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. Ijaz received his bachelor's degree in nuclear physics
Nuclear physics
Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies the building blocks and interactions of atomic nuclei. The most commonly known applications of nuclear physics are nuclear power generation and nuclear weapons technology, but the research has provided application in many fields, including those...
from the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
in 1983 and master's degree in mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...
from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
in 1985, where he was trained as a neural sciences engineer. His father, Dr. Mujaddid Ahmad Ijaz
Mujaddid Ahmad Ijaz
Mujaddid Ahmed Ijaz, , D.Phil, was a Pakistani experimental physicist known for his work with Sub-atomic and Hypothetical particles and his early role in Pakistan's nuclear energy and nuclear weapons development.-Further reading:***-References:...
, was a theoretical physicist who played a major role in nuclear detterence development throughout 1970s and 1980s, and was a pioneering figure in the designing of the weapons.
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 serves on the College Foundation Board of Trustees at the University of Virginia and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations
Council on Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations is an American nonprofit nonpartisan membership organization, publisher, and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs...
.
Media commentator
He used to appear regularly on a variety of financial and political news programs for CNNCNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0301/01/ltm.04.html http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0301/02/i_qaa.01.html, Fox News, BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, Germany’s ARD TV, Japan’s NHK, ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
and NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
. He has commented for PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
’ Newshour with Jim Lehrer
Jim Lehrer
James Charles "Jim" Lehrer is an American journalist and the executive editor and former news anchor for PBS NewsHour on PBS, known for his role as a frequent debate moderator during elections...
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/asia/july-dec99/pakistan_10-13.html, http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/international/july-dec99/hijackers_12-28.html, http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/terrorism/july-dec01/powell_10-15.html, http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/media/jan-june02/pearl_1-29.html and ABC News Nightline with Ted Koppel
Ted Koppel
Edward James "Ted" Koppel is an English-born American broadcast journalist, best known as the anchor for Nightline from the program's inception in 1980 until his retirement in late 2005. After leaving Nightline, Koppel worked as managing editor for the Discovery Channel before resigning in 2008...
. Ijaz has been featured twice in Barron's
Michael Barone (pundit)
Michael Barone is a conservative American political analyst, pundit and journalist. He is best known for being the principal author of The Almanac of American Politics, a reference work concerning US governors and federal politicians, and published biennially by National Journal...
Currency Roundtable discussions. He has also contributed to the editorial pages of London’s Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
, The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, The International Herald Tribune
International Herald Tribune
The International Herald Tribune is a widely read English language international newspaper. It combines the resources of its own correspondents with those of The New York Times and is printed at 38 sites throughout the world, for sale in more than 160 countries and territories...
, Newsweek International, The Christian Science Monitor
The Christian Science Monitor
The Christian Science Monitor is an international newspaper published daily online, Monday to Friday, and weekly in print. It was started in 1908 by Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist. As of 2009, the print circulation was 67,703.The CSM is a newspaper that covers...
, The Weekly Standard
The Weekly Standard
The Weekly Standard is an American neoconservative opinion magazine published 48 times per year. Its founding publisher, News Corporation, debuted the title September 18, 1995. Currently edited by founder William Kristol and Fred Barnes, the Standard has been described as a "redoubt of...
, National Review
National Review
National Review is a biweekly magazine founded by the late author William F. Buckley, Jr., in 1955 and based in New York City. It describes itself as "America's most widely read and influential magazine and web site for conservative news, commentary, and opinion."Although the print version of the...
, USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
, 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 commented on the Osama bin Laden and Nuclear Proliferation
Fox News analyst on Special Report
Mansoor Ijaz was a Fox News Analyst and played a popular role on Special Report. . He was the most popular guest on the show and appeared on Fox more than 100 occasions. Ijaz would articulate opinions in support of the Bush White House and neo-conservative foreign policy.Iran Nuke Exclusive
In 2006, in an interview with Gulf News, he made the world exclusive claim that Iran already had a nuclear bomb and that US think-tanks were already formulating strategies to overthrow the Iranian GovernmentInternational negotiator
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 CongressUnited States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
had imposed sanctions against the Sudanese government over the terrorist operations on its soil. Mansoor Ijaz reportedly tried to negotiate a deal between Sudan's president Omar al-Bashir
Omar al-Bashir
Lieutenant General Omar Hassan Ahmad Al-Bashir is the current President of Sudan and the head of the National Congress Party. He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister...
and Clinton administration officials including Sandy Berger
Sandy Berger
Samuel Richard "Sandy" Berger was United States National Security Advisor, under President Bill Clinton from 1997 to 2001. In his position, he helped to formulate the foreign policy of the Clinton Administration...
. Ijaz argued the U.S. should adopt a policy of "constructive engagement" with Sudan, in return for deporting Osama bin Laden. However bin Laden made his way to Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
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, a claim that Clinton's administration has denied . The 9/11 Commission
9/11 Commission
The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, also known as the 9/11 Commission, was set up on November 27, 2002, "to prepare a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11, 2001 attacks", including preparedness for and the immediate response to...
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.".
Statements Regarding bin Laden
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 AlbrightMadeleine Albright
Madeleine Korbelová Albright is the first woman to become a United States Secretary of State. She was appointed by U.S. President Bill Clinton on December 5, 1996, and was unanimously confirmed by a U.S. Senate vote of 99–0...
but spurned when Susan Rice and counter-terrorism czar Richard Clarke
Richard A. Clarke
Richard Alan Clarke was a U.S. government employee for 30 years, 1973–2003. He worked for the State Department during the presidency of Ronald Reagan. In 1992, President George H.W. Bush appointed him to chair the Counter-terrorism Security Group and to a seat on the United States National...
persuaded National Security Advisor Sandy Berger
Sandy Berger
Samuel Richard "Sandy" Berger was United States National Security Advisor, under President Bill Clinton from 1997 to 2001. In his position, he helped to formulate the foreign policy of the Clinton Administration...
to overrule Albright.
Ijaz’s claims in this regard appeared in numerous Op-Ed pieces including one in the Los Angeles Times
and one in the Washington Post co-written with former Ambassador to Sudan Timothy M. Carney
Timothy M. Carney
Timothy Michael Carney is a retired American diplomat and consultant.-Biography:Carney was born in Missouri and went on to graduate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1966. He studied advanced Southeast Asian affairs at Cornell University in 1975-76. Carney joined the Foreign...
.
Similar allegations have been made by Vanity Fair contributing editor David Rose and Richard Miniter
Richard Miniter
Richard Miniter is an investigative journalist and author of two New York Times best-selling books, Losing bin Laden and Shadow War....
, author of Losing bin Laden, in a November 2003 interview with World
World (magazine)
WORLD Magazine is a biweekly Christian news magazine, published in the United States of America by God's World Publications, a non-profit 501 organization based in Asheville, North Carolina. WORLD differs from most other news magazines in that its declared perspective is one of conservative...
.
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.”