Intelligence agencies



Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)


Pakistan's intelligence community is divided into three main agencies. The agencies are neither wholly civilian, nor wholly military, and their duties in foreign and domestic intelligence often overlap. Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is the premier Pakistani intelligence and security organization. The ISI collects domestic and foreign intelligence, focusing especially on surveillance of foreign diplomats operating within Pakistan. No government or military body oversees the actions of the ISI, which has led to the agency gaining significant power. The ISI monitors communications, maintains a special, military-trained action group, and conducts political espionage.

Various operational divisions within the ISI attend to different aspects of the organization's mission to protect national security. The Joint Signal Intelligence Bureau coordinates communications and signal surveillance operations. The Joint Counter Intelligence Bureau monitors Pakistani diplomats serving abroad and conducts counter-espionage operations. Assessing threats to national security and collating intelligence data is the primary responsibility of the Joint Intelligence X.


The Intelligence Bureau (IB)


The Intelligence Bureau (IB) is Pakistan's main domestic intelligence and espionage agency. The IB conducts political surveillance of politicians, government agents, businesses, and citizen groups. Political surveillance is used to identify and infiltrate groups that the Pakistani government considers hostile or anti-government. Although the agency has no formal arrest powers, suspects are often arrested and detained by law enforcement at the request of IB officials. In 1996, the IB was granted control of government censorship programs, controlling information dissemination via mail, wire, or electronic medium.


Military Intelligence (MI)


The Pakistani government has been dominated by military forces for decades. The election of some moderate leaders in 2000 led to minor demilitarization reforms within the government. In subsequent elections, Islamist hardliners gained seats in Pakistan's parliament, effectively halting impending reforms. A reflection of the government, the Pakistani intelligence community is also a mix of military and civilian forces. Military Intelligence (MI) performs the same duties as its government agency counterpart, conducting political surveillance and protecting national security. While the MI is especially concerned with the security of military installations, weapons facilities, and border control, its routine operations are similar to the ISI and IB.

While some reforms have been made to the Pakistani intelligence community, the national government continues to take criticism from the international community on its lack of support for antiterrorism measures in the region. The United States officially warned Pakistan to cease terrorist operations in India in the late 1990s. Following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, Pakistan again came under the scrutiny of Western nations for its tolerance of terrorist organizations, such as al-Qaeda, operating within its borders. Although Pakistan's leader, General Pervez Musharraf, eventually pledged and lent support to the United States-led coalition in the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan, some Western analysts initially challenged the commitment and loyalties of the Pakistani intelligence service toward the international war on terrorism.

Subsequent actions have signaled Pakistan's overt willingness to become a full and active participant in the international war on terrorism. On March 1, 2003, agents of Pakistan's ISI intelligence agency, in cooperation with U.S. CIA operatives tracked down and arrested Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected al-Qaeda operations director implicated in a string of terrorist attacks. Pakistan intelligence agents were also instrumental in the prior arrest of another highly placed al-Qaeda terrorist, Abu Zubaida. Both terrorists were turned over to the CIA for interrogation at an undisclosed location.



Intelligence Bureau of Pakistan



From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Intelligence Bureau (IB) is part of the Ministry of Interior, Pakistan. The Intelligence Bureau (IB) is Pakistan's main domestic intelligence and espionage agency. IB's tasks include counter-intelligence and Internal Security matters; under the lattar heading, this translates into responsibilities in many area.


Powers


Although the agency has no formal arrest powers, suspects are often arrested and detained by law enforcement at the request of IB officials. In 1996, the IB was granted control of government censorship programs, controlling information dissemination via mail, wire, or electronic medium. The present Director General is Brig (Retd) Ejaz Shah. Other notable DG's include Maj (Retd) Masood Sharif Khattak, Col (Retd) Bashir Wali, and Col (retd) Habibullah Niazi.


History


The existence of IB pre-dates the creation of Pakistan, as it was a part of the pre-war Intelligence Bureau of British India, and the present day IB was created from elements given to Pakistan upon independence. It was initially the main Pakistani Agency, with responsibility for strategic and foreign intelligence, as well as counter-espionage and domestic affairs. Its performance in the 1948 war was however considered less than exemplary. This was due to the fact that the pre-independence Bureau was concerned with Internal Security matters, and was not set up for such its new remit. As a result after the war a new agency the Inter-Services Intelligence was created, and it took over the strategic and foreign intel roles.


Intelligence Bureau
Source: FAS


The three main intelligence agencies in Pakistan are ISI, Military Intelligence [MI] and the Intelligence Bureau [IB]. Each agency has its own specific responsibilities, but all share the common goal of preserving Paksitan's national security. Since any significant domestic or foreign political activity impinges on national security, there has traditinally been considerable overlap in the activities of these three agencies. The ISI and MI have generally focused on matters of immediate military interest, and the IB concentrated on domestic political activities.

Prior to the imposition of Martial Law in 1958, the IB reported directly to the Prime Minister and the two military agencies to the Commander-in-Chief of the Army (C-in-C). When martial Law was promulgated in 1958, all the intelligence agencies fell under the direct control of the President and Chief Martial Law Administrator, and the three intelligence agencies began competing to demonstrate their loyalty to Ayub Khan and his government.
The Intelligence Bureau monitors politicians, political activists, suspected terrorists, and suspected foreign intelligence agents. The IB keeps tabs on political operatives from countries it considers hostile to Pakistan's interests, and it is responsible for harassing domestic opposition parties. Credible reports indicate that the authorities commonly resort to wiretapping and occasionally intercept and open mail.

The Intelligence Bureau is under the Prime Minister's cabinet division. A total of Rs. 25.8 million was spent on the IB in 1976-77. The Intelligence Bureau grew in importance with the re-election of Benazir Bhutto in 1993. One of her most controversial appointments to government posts was that of Masood Sharif as Director General Intelligence Bureau. Sharif was believed to have played an active role in toppling the Shabir Shah government in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). His appointment precipitated a major crisis in the Pakistani state apparatus, because Benazir then began using the IB chief to erode the once all powerful ISI's base. Benazir's attempts to root out the influence of military intelligence in the country's internal affairs mirrored the failed efforts of her father in the 1970s. This was the last straw as far as the military was concerned.

In his order dismissing Prime Minister Bhutto on 05 November 1996, President Leghari accused the Government of massive illegal wiretapping, including the telephone conversations of judges, political party leaders, and military and civilian officials. One of the first acts of President Leghari after dismissing Benazir was to imprison Masood Sharif, head of Intelligence Bureau under Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. He was arrested and imprisoned, not on corruption charges but as part of a murder investigation.
On 15 December 1996, the caretaker government announced that, effective immediately, all foreign and domestic mail was to be subject to censorship by the Special Branch and the Intelligence Bureau.