The statements made by British Prime Minister David Cameron in New
Delhi, in which he warned of "a dual Pakistani role with the West in the
war on terror and the export of terror to India, Afghanistan, and other
places," have caused a major crisis between Islamabad and London.
Nevertheless, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has begun a visit to
London, during which he seeks to stress his determination to fight the
Taleban now that Cameron has accused him of exporting terror.
Although Cameron did not mention the Pakistani Directorate for
Inter-Services Intelligence [ISI] by name, the ISI interpreted his
statement as being chiefly directed against it. On 31 July, it was
officially announced that the visit that ISI Chief Lieutenant General
Ahmed Shuja Pasha was planning to make to the United Kingdom was
cancelled. The purpose of the ISI chief's visit was to hold talks with
his British counterpart on joint coordination in the field of combating
terror.
Despite the ISI requesting an official apology from the British
Government for Cameron's statements, the United Kingdom has rejected the
request and insisted on its prime minister's position. Pakistani
political analysts have been puzzled by Cameron's statements and the
real reason behind them. According to the available information, such
statements are attributed to Pakistan's rejection of a British and US
demand to support the Jondollah [Popular Resistance Movement of Iran] in
Pakistani Balochistan in order to boost its activity inside Iran.
'Strengthening' Jondollah
British and US intelligence have detected serious moves by Iran against
their interests and Israel. This is through supporting Hezbollah and
providing it with missiles that can hit Israel and reach deep into it.
Accordingly, the United States and the United Kingdom decided to
strengthen Jondollah against the Iranian regime to serve as a deterrent
force in the event that this regime insists on fortifying Hezbollah in
Southern Lebanon and confronting the Western and Israeli influence in
the region. Nevertheless, the major problem that British intelligence
has faced is the ISI's refusal to cooperate with it and US intelligence
in supporting Jondollah's activity against Iranian Baluchestan (Sistan
va Baluchestan). It is known that Jondollah has secret training bases in
the neighbouring Pakistani Balochistan.
Jondollah's militants use Pakistani Balochistan as a launch pad for
their activities in Sistan va Baluchestan, where they carry out
large-scale operations against Iranian institutions, Shi'i mosques,
schools, and hospitals. Also, Jondollah's militants are trained to set
ambushes to hunt and kill members of the Iranian Islamic Revolution
Guards Corps [IRGC] in: Sistan va Baluchestan; Arabistan, which the
Iranians call Khuzestan; Tabriz near Azerbaijan; and Iranian Kurdistan,
which is adjacent to the Iraqi Kurdistan Region. This region is an
almost independent state where the British, US, and Israeli intelligence
services are present in strength.
Pakistani-Iranian Cooperation
British and US intelligence have resented the Pakistani-Iranian
intelligence cooperation against Jondollah in Pakistani Balochistan. As
for the reason behind such a change in Pakistan's position towards Iran,
it is attributed to the discovery of a joint UK-US-Indian intelligence
plan in cooperation with the Mosad that supports separatist movements in
Pakistan.
Foremost among these movements is the Baloch rebel movement
through the Balochistan Liberation Army. British intelligence plays a
major role in this plan in cooperation with Indian intelligence. When
Pakistan was accused of supporting terrorism in India, it responded by
providing several documents that show Indian intelligence's involvement
in supporting Pakistani separatist movements in Balochistan,
Khyber-Paktunkhwa, and the Pakistani tribal area.
Pakistani Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani handed the documents to
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh when he met with him i n Sharm
al-Shaykh on 16 July 2009. This was through undeclared Egyptian
mediation. Pakistan objects to the British and US plans on Iran and the
support provided for Jondollah in order to separate the Iranian
Baluchestan Province. This is because it believes that the success of
such a plan will mean losing the strategic Pakistani Balochistan
Province and its enormous natural resources.
The Global Intelligence Files - BBC Monitoring Alert - KSA