Pakistan Scraps Spy Arm Accused of Political Meddling
24th November 2008
Pakistan’s government abolished a department of the military intelligence agency that politicians say was responsible for destabilizing civilian governments.
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi announced the decision at a news conference in the central city of Multan yesterday, calling it “a positive development” and saying the Inter-Services Intelligence will now focus on counterterrorism.
The department was known as the “political wing” of the ISI, Pakistan’s premier security service responsible for domestic and external security under the prime minister.
The military has ruled Pakistan for almost half of the period since independence from Britain in 1947. The last era of military rule ended in 2007 when then-President Pervez Musharraf, a general who seized power in a 1999 coup, resigned as army chief. Musharraf quit as president in August to avoid impeachment by a civilian coalition government elected in February.
The unit set up the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-i-Azam party that backed Musharraf and formed the government from 2002 until late last year, said Talat Masood, a former Pakistani general and defense analyst. It was also responsible for manipulating many national elections in Pakistan, he said.
The abolition of the unit is “another major step by the army of distancing itself from domestic politics,” said Masood.
Pakistan’s army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani in September appointed Lieutenant General Ahmed Shujaa Pasha to head the ISI, replacing Lieutenant General Nadeem Taj after the Bush administration called for the agency’s overhaul.
Retired U.S. officials have reported a growing view among American agencies that the ISI is undermining the international campaign against terrorism by supporting Taliban insurgents and other militants based in Pakistan’s border areas with Afghanistan.
The military denies ISI personnel have supported militants.
Source:Bloomberg