Pakistan Names New Intelligence Chief
 

[B][U][CENTER][SIZE="4"][COLOR="Navy"]Pakistan Names New Intelligence Chief [/COLOR][/SIZE][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[RIGHT][B]SEPTEMBER 30, 2008[/B][/RIGHT]

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Pakistan named a new chief for its main intelligence service, a change sure to be closely scrutinized by American officials who have questioned the powerful spy agency's loyalties in the war on terror.

The appointment of Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shujaa Pasha as head of Inter-Services Intelligence was the most eye-catching of several changes in a major leadership shake-up by army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.

In his most-recent job as director general of military operations, Gen. Pasha oversaw military offensives against insurgents in the nuclear-armed nation's restive northwest.

The northwest is plagued by Taliban and al Qaeda militants, who are involved in attacks on American and NATO forces in Afghanistan as well as increasingly common strikes within Pakistan.

Gen. Pasha has also commanded troops for the U.N. mission to Sierra Leone in 2001-2002 and was appointed last year by the world body as an adviser on peacekeeping operations.

An army statement announcing the changes late Monday gave no biography of Gen. Pasha, but he gave some insight into his thinking at a media briefing last November. Urbane and apparently at ease with foreign reporters, Gen. Pasha acknowledged the price Pakistan was paying for its past sponsorship of radical Islam. "We pumped in millions of dollars for establishing it, and now we are up against it," Gen. Pasha said.

Pakistani intelligence helped create the Taliban militia, many of whose leaders and recruits studied at religious schools in Pakistan. Pakistan also was one of the few countries that gave diplomatic recognition to the Taliban's fundamentalist rule in Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.

Officially, Pakistan allied itself with the U.S. after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, but observers say elements in the ISI may still be aiding Taliban fighters, in part to retain them as assets against longtime rival India.

U.S. intelligence agencies suspect rogue elements in the ISI may be giving Taliban militants sensitive information to aid them in their growing insurgency in Afghanistan.

India and Afghanistan -- and reportedly the U.S. -- also suspect the agency of involvement in the July 7 bombing outside India's Embassy in Kabul that killed more than 60 people. Pakistan denies the allegations.

Gen. Pasha succeeds Lt. Gen. Nadeem Taj, who was in the position for about a year after being appointed by former President Pervez Musharraf. Gen. Taj was a close Musharraf aide, including during his 1999 coup.

Mr. Musharraf, a longtime U.S. ally who retired as army chief last year, was forced to quit the presidency in August amid threats of impeachment by the fledgling civilian government.

The army statement said Gen. Taj would take charge of an army corps in the eastern city of Gujranwala. It listed several other new postings, each of which was expected to take effect in a few weeks.

At the November briefing, Gen. Pasha expressed skepticism about Washington's policies in the war on terror. Asked whether Washington understood militancy in the region, Gen. Pasha said "brute use of force" killed too many civilians and stoked extremism.

Gen. Pasha's new job will be pivotal in joint U.S.-Pakistani efforts to locate Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri. He said in November that it was "anybody's guess" where Mr. bin Laden was hiding. "Osama is a mystery," he said.

Military analyst Talat Masood said the changes appeared to be an effort by Gen. Kayani -- who succeeded Musharraf as army chief and previously headed the ISI himself -- to consolidate his control over the military. In July, the Pakistani government reportedly tried to bring the ISI under the control of the Interior Ministry, but quickly reversed the decision apparently after military dissent.

Pakistan has spent about half of its 61-year history under army rule, but Gen. Kayani has indicated he wants to keep the military out of politics and rehabilitate its image after Mr. Musharraf's nine-year rule. Still, the army chief has shown an independent streak and has condemned in harsh terms U.S. cross-border strikes in Pakistan's northwest.


[B]Copyright © 2008 Associated Press[/B]