Pakistan extends tenure of military intelligence chief

[Xeric]

Pakistan extends tenure of military intelligence chief - Yahoo! News

Pakistan extends tenure of military intelligence chief

SLAMABAD (AFP) – Pakistan said Friday it had given the chief of the country's powerful military spy agency an extra year in the job after he had been set to retire.

Lieutenant General Ahmad Shuja Pasha, who was appointed chief of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) -- involved in combating Al-Qaeda and the Taliban -- in 2008, had been due to retire from service last month.

"A one year extension has been given" to the ISI chief, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on the phone-in programme "Prime Minister Online" on state-run Pakistan Television, adding it was granted to ensure continuity.

"He (Pasha) is an intelligent person," he said. This is the second one-year extension the ISI head has received.

In July last year, Gilani extended the tenure of army chief General Ashfaq Kayani by three years.

Pasha is considered close to the relatively reformist Kayani, who previously ran the ISI until October 2007 before assuming command of the army from former President Pervez Musharraf a month later. Musharraf stepped down amid international pressure to end his eight years of military rule.

In theory, the ISI works under the control of the prime minister, but in practice its functions are mainly run by Pakistan's pervasive security establishment.

ISI has been at the centre of concerns among western allies that it is either turning a blind eye to militants in Pakistan's troubled tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, or even actively sponsoring the rebels.

The shadowy spy agency is feared at home for playing a central, although covert political role. Pakistan has spent more than half its 62-year history under military rule.

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

not exactly a ''latest'' development, but thanx 4 sharing....and hope that the fight against the enemy(s) would go on unabated as I anticipate. They have much blood of Pakistanis on their hands.

 

[Xeric]

Abu

This one is the formal announcement to effect the extension.

 

[blain2]

Not sure if this is a good thing or not. I think continuity should come from the institution and not an individual. Oh well its done now.

Xeric sahib, how are you?

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

Salamoona Xeric agha deir mera baani

 

[Xeric]

i personally think that the Army can survive these changes. COAS' extension was enough for the continuity thingy. This may cause a certain hawks to say 'see, even the Chief cant control the ISI if the guy at the top is changed'. Nevertheless, it has been done and i dont think it's going harm us either.

Blain bhai, Alhamodolliah i am guud. And you?

Door door rehnday ho..zaroor koi baat hai...

Anywaz, here's what another retd fauji has to say about is:

Extension for ISI chief – The Express Tribune

Extension for ISI chief
By Letter
Published: March 12, 2011

KARACHI: This is with reference to a report published on your website on March 11 which said that Pakistan was going to extend the term of the present ISI chief. Two-and-a-half years is a long enough a period for the director-general of the ISI to bring about a meaningful change in the way the organisation works. If it is the usual ‘stay-the-course’ agenda, then any selected general can run the agency.

Many professional and able officers have held this appointment for a far shorter time period and in much more difficult circumstances. They were not indispensible and were changed. The continuity and extension in General Pasha’s tenure may have everything to do with his close association with the army chief. However, it would be fair to say that surely the present government and the Americans must be extremely satisfied with the present working of the ISI for its chief to get an extension.

In July 2008, after the Indian embassy was bombed in Kabul, US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen and then CIA deputy director Stephen Kappes visited Pakistan on July 12 and, in meetings with the military and political leadership, presented evidence of Pakistani intelligence’s involvement in the bombing. The prime minister who was to visit Washington and meet President George W Bush in two weeks time issued a notification which placed the ISI under the control of the interior ministry. However, this notification was rescinded within 24 hours and this gave a clear signal to all concerned that the country’s political leadership could neither control nor reform the ISI.

By the same logic, if General Pasha does get the extension (it has yet to be formally announced), then it will not be unfair to assume that the civilian leadership today has a say in policy matters being implemented by the agency and that the Americans are pretty happy with it.

Lt-col (retd) Muhammad Ali Ehsan

Published in The Express Tribune, March 13th, 2011.

 

[Mutee]

I think it's very bad for the institution and a classic example of nepotism by our masters

 

[DV RULES]

So let's see what progress will come from this extension

 

[khurasaan1]

Dont knw the internal game ...but this wont be a good example for the Institution...

 

[Super Falcon]

this is a main probleum in pakistan once they have passed their ages which require to do the job they still kept their in all sectors so how can be created job opportunities for our future they have passed their life no give those who need to pass their life they are almost done and their financial status is good give these seat those who are new and to build and suport their families so sad to see this

 

[blain2]

Blain bhai, Alhamodolliah i am guud. And you?

Door door rehnday ho..zaroor koi baat hai...

Sub khair ae. Alhamdolillah. I just have been really busy on the professional front. Thus not much awara gardi on the web ;-)

Col Ehsan's point is fair. But I think the part that I agree the most with is that once the direction has been set for the ISI under Pasha's command, and with the chief staying on, I think Gen Pasha making way for someone else would have been fine. Its not as big an issue as the CoAS getting a further extension, which I think should not happen again for Kiyani IA, even though I think he has been a really good chief.

 

[Xeric]

Iski kasar reh gaye the bus...

Ahmad Shuja Pasha - The 2011 TIME 100 Poll - TIME

The 2011 TIME 100 Poll

Ahmad Shuja Pasha

Age: 58
Occupation: Director General of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate
Previous TIME 100 Appearances: 0

Pasha's role at the helm of Pakistan's shadowy intelligence agency will loom large this year as the country's leadership attempts to bring the Afghan Taliban to the negotiating table. As the intelligence wing of the military, the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI) was instrumental in bringing the Taliban to power in neighboring Afghanistan in the 1990s, in order to ensure a friendly government. Now Pasha argues that the ISI is the only organization that can bring the wayward Taliban to heel. Military Chief Parvez Kayani, who was named one of TIME's 100 most influential people in 2009, may have the brawn, but it is Pasha that wields the brain. The only question is in whose interest, exactly, he is working.

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

Hi,

you know he's a real damn guud at it when you google his name and can only find 2-3 pictures of him

he's quite the introvert. An emotional Pathaan patriot, but very calculated and extremely well-spoken --as per those who were graced by his presence. His resolve against the enemies of the country would remain undisturbed and untethered.

goes without saying, wish sir all the best




regards

 

[blain2]

Hi,

you know he's a real damn guud at it when you google his name and can only find 2-3 pictures of him

he's quite the introvert. An emotional Pathaan patriot, but very calculated and extremely well-spoken --as per those who were graced by his presence. His resolve against the enemies of the country would remain undisturbed and untethered.

goes without saying, wish sir all the best




regards

I think we agree that you do not become the DG ISI by being an extrovert and a public personality ;-) The job comes with a need to remain below the radar and stick to your business.

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

i.e. ''spook''