ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's army chief General Ashfaq Kiani has cemented his control over the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) with the appointment of close confidant Lt Gen Zaheer ul-Islam to lead the country's spy agency. The elevation of Zaheer to 20th director general comes after serving as the agency's head of internal security and counter intelligence, where he dealt with the widespread terror threat inflicting Pakistan.
The 56-year old Zaheer was promoted by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Kiani's recommendation, replacing Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha. His appointment has finally put to rest speculation that Pasha might get yet another extension, having already been granted two consecutive extensions in 2010 and 2011. The outgoing DG ISI was making frantic efforts to secure another one-year term despite the fact that he had fallen out of favor, not only with President Asif Zardari and Gilani but also with Army Chief Kiani, especially in the aftermath of the Memogate scandal which has already backfired badly, leaving the security establishment hugely embarrassed.
Zaheer, who is currently the Corps Commander of Karachi, will take charge as the new ISI chief on March 18, when Pasha retires formally. A specialized paratrooper, Zaheer comes from a well-known military family in Punjab province. He is assuming command of the ISI at a time when the agency is facing intense media flak for undertaking activities that do not come under its purview, with allegations flying over political wheeling-dealing and human-rights abuses. Besides clearing negative perceptions and creating a new image for the agency, as new director general, Zaheer will have to take drastic steps to turn it into a non-political, purely professional and law abiding agency.
Kiani has clearly prevailed upon the government in getting his trusted aide appointed to lead the ISI, according to analysts, and if the past is any indication, Zaheer could be the next army chief, since Kiani too was director general of the ISI before being elevated to Chief of Army Staff. Zaheer is due to retire in October, 2014, a full year after Kiani retires after completing his second three-year term.
Unlike many of the previous spy chiefs who had served the ISI since the days of General Pervez Musharraf, Zaheer is considered to be an open-minded and moderate general. With a little over two years in active military service he has held several high-profile positions. He is regarded as a typical infantry soldier and comes from the same arm of the military as Kiani. Having served as Chief of Staff at the Army Strategic Forces Command (known as Army SF Command) from 2004-2006, Zaheer commanded the 12th Infantry Division based in the Murree Division for the next two years (2006-2008). The Army SF Command consists of the Air Force Strategic Command (AFSF) and the Naval Strategic Command (NSC) and is tasked to command all of Pakistan's land based strategic forces.
Moving to the ISI in 2008 as Director General of internal security and counter intelligence, Zaheer was responsible for law and order, coordination with law-enforcement agencies, supporting counter-terrorism operations, keeping a close watch on activities of the foreign diplomats in Pakistan and preventing the penetration of extremist elements in the armed forces. He was also responsible for handling internal security situations like the violent nationalist movement in Balochistan province and the ethno-sectarian strife in Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh. But the general perception is that he did not have much success in dealing with the law and order situation either in Balochistan or in Karachi.
The change of guard at the ISI has taken place at a crucial juncture when the Pakistan parliament is set to review ties with the United States in the aftermath of the November 26 Salala attack by North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) planes. Pakistan-United States ties touched the lowest ebb following the deadly strike which killed 25 Pakistani soldiers, prompting Islamabad to suspend NATO supplies to Afghanistan through its land route, besides compelling the Americans to vacate the Shamsi air base in Balochistan. Although the ISI has little to do with conduct of bilateral ties with the US, the spy agency and its American counterpart, the Central Intelligence Agency, play a crucial role in determining the nature of the relationship, owing to their intelligence collaboration.
The vital role an ISI chief can play in shaping ties with the Americans security establishment can be gauged from the fact that Lt Gen Pasha used to directly talk to the US military leadership on Kiani's behalf even during tense military-to-military ties between the two countries. The outgoing ISI chief was considered close to the Americans when he assumed command of the ISI, mainly because of his perceived anti-Taliban and liberal views. The Americans fully backed his appointment, thinking that he could reorient the ISI, which is often described as a state within a state and is accused of maintaining close contacts with the Afghan Taliban. But the US intelligence community soon concluded that many of the anti-US jihadi organizations operating from Pakistan were being backed by the ISI in a bid to pursue the geo-strategic agenda of Pakistan Army in the region.
Nevertheless, ties had suffered a major setback in November 2010 when a US federal court issued a summons for the director-general of the ISI and a number of senior office bearers of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) for their involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. The court was hearing a law suit filed by relatives of Gavriel Noah Holtzberg, an American Jew, who was killed along with his wife, during the November 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks. The petitioners had alleged that the ISI had a role in the attacks. The ugly episode deeply upset Pakistan's security establishment and caused fresh strains in the already thorny relationship with the Americans.
On December 16, 2010, almost a month after the November 19, 2010 summons for the ISI chief and others was issued, the Islamabad police moved to charge CIA station chief in Pakistan - who was supervising the US drone campaign - with murder. Jonathan Banks was charged with providing operational guidance for the drone attacks in Pakistan's tribal belt. Washington had subsequently decided to withdraw Banks from Islamabad, citing security threats after being named in a murder case by Islamabad police. The US media subsequently alleged, while quoting intelligence sources, that the ISI was involved in blowing up the cover of CIA station chief especially when Washington was pushing Islamabad to expand a renewed CIA effort to help target al-Qaeda and Taliban militants on the Pak-Afghan border.
Pasha finally lost his credibility as a dependable intelligence chief following the death of Osama bin Laden by the US Special Forces in Abbottabad on May 2, 2011. Many in the US military establishment accused the ISI of incompetence and complicity after Bin Laden was found to have lived in the Bilal Town area of Abbottabad, which is hardly one kilometer from the prestigious Kakul Military Academy, for up to five years. The international community refuted Pasha's stance that the ISI was not aware of Bin Laden's presence.
Zaheer is known in the military circles as a hardworking and upright soldier. While his father retired from the army as a colonel, his three brothers - Azharul Islam, Fakharul Islam and Mazharul Islam also retired as military officers. Zaheer's appointment marks an apparent shift in the thinking of the country's military and civilian leadership in the sense that he has few connections with the US security establishment - unlike Pasha who had an extended circle of American friends, both within and outside Pakistan. Zaheer has had little exposure to the United States as a senior army officer, having attended just one course at the US Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in 2002-2003 as a brigadier.
Security analysts say the incoming ISI director general has held some of the most important posts in the Pakistan Army since his commissioning in 1977, and is seen both inside and outside the military as an experienced and professional soldier. His appointment is considered critical from three angles: the current stand-off in ties following the Salala attack, the situation in Afghanistan - especially with regard to the withdrawal of international troops, and last but not the least the fact that the country is entering into election year amid entrenched tensions between the civil and military leadership.
However, the most important challenge facing Zaheer will be to repair the fast-eroding military to military relations between the two countries, which is only possible if the ISI agrees to revive its suspended intelligence sharing operations with the CIA. While reacting to Zaheer's appointment, former CIA Director Mike Hayden has said it could be the beginning of a fresh start for the US-ISI relationship. "The United States will look at this as a chance to reboot the relationship with ISI which has been severely strained over the past year," he said. To recall, the US government and military officials have accused the ISI of aiding and protecting the Afghan Taliban. The former chairman of US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen had accused the ISI of protecting a key Taliban group, the Haqqani network, calling it a "veritable arm" of Pakistan's premier spy agency.
At a special joint session of parliament likely to be held this month, the broad contours of a new policy towards the United States will be debated. But a major obstacle to the revival of military-to-military as well as diplomatic ties is the continuing drone strikes in the tribal belt of Pakistan. It would be hard for the Pakistani security establishment to revive military ties without a pledge from the Americans to stop their drone campaign in Pakistani tribal belt. But the US administration is not expected to give such a commitment until and unless the Pakistani establishment decides to withdraw its covert support to the Afghan Taliban against the US-led Allied Forces in Afghanistan.
On the domestic front, the new ISI chief faces two key challenges posed by the Supreme Court of Pakistan, which is hearing two petitions about the alleged involvement of the ISI in the enforced disappearance and extra-judicial killings of civilians and the distribution of US$15.5 million by the spy agency to a coterie of right-wing politicians in an election-rigging scheme to influence the results of the 1990 polls. Zaheer's predecessor was not only accused of masterminding the infamous Memogate scam against the government, but also charged with backing the Tehrik-e-Insaaf (Justice Movement), led by a right-wing cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan. He was also accused of creating the Difaa-e-Pakistan Council, another dummy alliance of religious parties, which is aligned with non-state jihadi actors.
Therefore, keeping in view a plethora of controversies surrounding the ISI especially during Pasha's tenure, it would be sane for his successor to depoliticize the spy agency by putting to an end its overwhelming involvement in politics. Zaheer will have to decide whether or not to continue his predecessor's ill-conceived policy of meddling in politics and backing favorite parties and politicians, or to return to its original job of providing national security intelligence assessment to the government with a view to combating external security threats.
Pakistan's well-known English newspaper Dawn observed in its March 11, 2012 editorial titled "Way forward for ISI" that the ISI should wrap up its political activities and focus on the fight against militancy. With the so-called Afghan endgame likely to be played out on Zaheer ul-Islam's watch, with militancy inside Pakistan morphing and still posing a formidable threat, and with Pakistan's cooperation with the outside world on curbing Islamist militancy likely to continue to be under serious scrutiny, Zaheer will have more than enough to contend with.
Asia Times Online :: New ISI chief needs to step lightly
The 56-year old Zaheer was promoted by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Kiani's recommendation, replacing Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha. His appointment has finally put to rest speculation that Pasha might get yet another extension, having already been granted two consecutive extensions in 2010 and 2011. The outgoing DG ISI was making frantic efforts to secure another one-year term despite the fact that he had fallen out of favor, not only with President Asif Zardari and Gilani but also with Army Chief Kiani, especially in the aftermath of the Memogate scandal which has already backfired badly, leaving the security establishment hugely embarrassed.
Zaheer, who is currently the Corps Commander of Karachi, will take charge as the new ISI chief on March 18, when Pasha retires formally. A specialized paratrooper, Zaheer comes from a well-known military family in Punjab province. He is assuming command of the ISI at a time when the agency is facing intense media flak for undertaking activities that do not come under its purview, with allegations flying over political wheeling-dealing and human-rights abuses. Besides clearing negative perceptions and creating a new image for the agency, as new director general, Zaheer will have to take drastic steps to turn it into a non-political, purely professional and law abiding agency.
Kiani has clearly prevailed upon the government in getting his trusted aide appointed to lead the ISI, according to analysts, and if the past is any indication, Zaheer could be the next army chief, since Kiani too was director general of the ISI before being elevated to Chief of Army Staff. Zaheer is due to retire in October, 2014, a full year after Kiani retires after completing his second three-year term.
Unlike many of the previous spy chiefs who had served the ISI since the days of General Pervez Musharraf, Zaheer is considered to be an open-minded and moderate general. With a little over two years in active military service he has held several high-profile positions. He is regarded as a typical infantry soldier and comes from the same arm of the military as Kiani. Having served as Chief of Staff at the Army Strategic Forces Command (known as Army SF Command) from 2004-2006, Zaheer commanded the 12th Infantry Division based in the Murree Division for the next two years (2006-2008). The Army SF Command consists of the Air Force Strategic Command (AFSF) and the Naval Strategic Command (NSC) and is tasked to command all of Pakistan's land based strategic forces.
Moving to the ISI in 2008 as Director General of internal security and counter intelligence, Zaheer was responsible for law and order, coordination with law-enforcement agencies, supporting counter-terrorism operations, keeping a close watch on activities of the foreign diplomats in Pakistan and preventing the penetration of extremist elements in the armed forces. He was also responsible for handling internal security situations like the violent nationalist movement in Balochistan province and the ethno-sectarian strife in Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh. But the general perception is that he did not have much success in dealing with the law and order situation either in Balochistan or in Karachi.
The change of guard at the ISI has taken place at a crucial juncture when the Pakistan parliament is set to review ties with the United States in the aftermath of the November 26 Salala attack by North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) planes. Pakistan-United States ties touched the lowest ebb following the deadly strike which killed 25 Pakistani soldiers, prompting Islamabad to suspend NATO supplies to Afghanistan through its land route, besides compelling the Americans to vacate the Shamsi air base in Balochistan. Although the ISI has little to do with conduct of bilateral ties with the US, the spy agency and its American counterpart, the Central Intelligence Agency, play a crucial role in determining the nature of the relationship, owing to their intelligence collaboration.
The vital role an ISI chief can play in shaping ties with the Americans security establishment can be gauged from the fact that Lt Gen Pasha used to directly talk to the US military leadership on Kiani's behalf even during tense military-to-military ties between the two countries. The outgoing ISI chief was considered close to the Americans when he assumed command of the ISI, mainly because of his perceived anti-Taliban and liberal views. The Americans fully backed his appointment, thinking that he could reorient the ISI, which is often described as a state within a state and is accused of maintaining close contacts with the Afghan Taliban. But the US intelligence community soon concluded that many of the anti-US jihadi organizations operating from Pakistan were being backed by the ISI in a bid to pursue the geo-strategic agenda of Pakistan Army in the region.
Nevertheless, ties had suffered a major setback in November 2010 when a US federal court issued a summons for the director-general of the ISI and a number of senior office bearers of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) for their involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. The court was hearing a law suit filed by relatives of Gavriel Noah Holtzberg, an American Jew, who was killed along with his wife, during the November 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks. The petitioners had alleged that the ISI had a role in the attacks. The ugly episode deeply upset Pakistan's security establishment and caused fresh strains in the already thorny relationship with the Americans.
On December 16, 2010, almost a month after the November 19, 2010 summons for the ISI chief and others was issued, the Islamabad police moved to charge CIA station chief in Pakistan - who was supervising the US drone campaign - with murder. Jonathan Banks was charged with providing operational guidance for the drone attacks in Pakistan's tribal belt. Washington had subsequently decided to withdraw Banks from Islamabad, citing security threats after being named in a murder case by Islamabad police. The US media subsequently alleged, while quoting intelligence sources, that the ISI was involved in blowing up the cover of CIA station chief especially when Washington was pushing Islamabad to expand a renewed CIA effort to help target al-Qaeda and Taliban militants on the Pak-Afghan border.
Pasha finally lost his credibility as a dependable intelligence chief following the death of Osama bin Laden by the US Special Forces in Abbottabad on May 2, 2011. Many in the US military establishment accused the ISI of incompetence and complicity after Bin Laden was found to have lived in the Bilal Town area of Abbottabad, which is hardly one kilometer from the prestigious Kakul Military Academy, for up to five years. The international community refuted Pasha's stance that the ISI was not aware of Bin Laden's presence.
Zaheer is known in the military circles as a hardworking and upright soldier. While his father retired from the army as a colonel, his three brothers - Azharul Islam, Fakharul Islam and Mazharul Islam also retired as military officers. Zaheer's appointment marks an apparent shift in the thinking of the country's military and civilian leadership in the sense that he has few connections with the US security establishment - unlike Pasha who had an extended circle of American friends, both within and outside Pakistan. Zaheer has had little exposure to the United States as a senior army officer, having attended just one course at the US Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in 2002-2003 as a brigadier.
Security analysts say the incoming ISI director general has held some of the most important posts in the Pakistan Army since his commissioning in 1977, and is seen both inside and outside the military as an experienced and professional soldier. His appointment is considered critical from three angles: the current stand-off in ties following the Salala attack, the situation in Afghanistan - especially with regard to the withdrawal of international troops, and last but not the least the fact that the country is entering into election year amid entrenched tensions between the civil and military leadership.
However, the most important challenge facing Zaheer will be to repair the fast-eroding military to military relations between the two countries, which is only possible if the ISI agrees to revive its suspended intelligence sharing operations with the CIA. While reacting to Zaheer's appointment, former CIA Director Mike Hayden has said it could be the beginning of a fresh start for the US-ISI relationship. "The United States will look at this as a chance to reboot the relationship with ISI which has been severely strained over the past year," he said. To recall, the US government and military officials have accused the ISI of aiding and protecting the Afghan Taliban. The former chairman of US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen had accused the ISI of protecting a key Taliban group, the Haqqani network, calling it a "veritable arm" of Pakistan's premier spy agency.
At a special joint session of parliament likely to be held this month, the broad contours of a new policy towards the United States will be debated. But a major obstacle to the revival of military-to-military as well as diplomatic ties is the continuing drone strikes in the tribal belt of Pakistan. It would be hard for the Pakistani security establishment to revive military ties without a pledge from the Americans to stop their drone campaign in Pakistani tribal belt. But the US administration is not expected to give such a commitment until and unless the Pakistani establishment decides to withdraw its covert support to the Afghan Taliban against the US-led Allied Forces in Afghanistan.
On the domestic front, the new ISI chief faces two key challenges posed by the Supreme Court of Pakistan, which is hearing two petitions about the alleged involvement of the ISI in the enforced disappearance and extra-judicial killings of civilians and the distribution of US$15.5 million by the spy agency to a coterie of right-wing politicians in an election-rigging scheme to influence the results of the 1990 polls. Zaheer's predecessor was not only accused of masterminding the infamous Memogate scam against the government, but also charged with backing the Tehrik-e-Insaaf (Justice Movement), led by a right-wing cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan. He was also accused of creating the Difaa-e-Pakistan Council, another dummy alliance of religious parties, which is aligned with non-state jihadi actors.
Therefore, keeping in view a plethora of controversies surrounding the ISI especially during Pasha's tenure, it would be sane for his successor to depoliticize the spy agency by putting to an end its overwhelming involvement in politics. Zaheer will have to decide whether or not to continue his predecessor's ill-conceived policy of meddling in politics and backing favorite parties and politicians, or to return to its original job of providing national security intelligence assessment to the government with a view to combating external security threats.
Pakistan's well-known English newspaper Dawn observed in its March 11, 2012 editorial titled "Way forward for ISI" that the ISI should wrap up its political activities and focus on the fight against militancy. With the so-called Afghan endgame likely to be played out on Zaheer ul-Islam's watch, with militancy inside Pakistan morphing and still posing a formidable threat, and with Pakistan's cooperation with the outside world on curbing Islamist militancy likely to continue to be under serious scrutiny, Zaheer will have more than enough to contend with.
Asia Times Online :: New ISI chief needs to step lightly
