 |
"I have been informed of this by a highly responsible person, who had personally seen the written US request," Gul told IOL. |
ISLAMABAD — The US is reportedly seeking to have four former senior officials of Pakistan's powerful Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) added to the UN international terrorist list.
"I have been informed of this by a highly responsible person, who had personally seen the written US request," former ISI head Lt-Gen (rtd) Hameed Gul, one of the four, told IslamOnline.net.
"I have already discussed this issue with the foreign secretary. But I am not sure if the prime minister has taken a decision on the issue."
Sources at the Pakistani Embassy in Washington have confirmed that the US has given the UN Security Council four names of former ISI official to be added to the international terrorists list under Resolution 1267.
Beside Gul, who served as the ISI Director General from 1987 to 1989, the three others are retired Squadron leader Khalid Khawaja, Colonel rtd Ameer Sultan and Colonel rtd Mustansar Billah.
If approved, the four would be banned from travelling outside Pakistan and their assets would be monitored and even frozen at times.
Foreign Office spokesman Muhammad Sadiq declined to comment on the report.
"I have heard or read about this but I'm not sure about the case."
But a senior Foreign Office official confirmed the report.
"The government is fully aware of this move, which is aimed at targeting the ISI," he told IOL, wishing not to be named because of the issue sensitivity.
"The government has told us (Foreign Office) not to comment on queries in this regard.
"The issue has already been referred to the prime minister but no decision has so far been taken by him," he added.
"My understanding is that the government doesn't want to react hastily."
Pressurizing ISI
|
| "The US is also targeting me because I am campaigning for Guantanamo detainees," Khawaja told IOL. |
Khawaja, who served in ISI from 1985 to 1987, also confirmed learning about the issue a month and a half ago.
"A friend of mine who is at a top position in the government personally informed me that something like that is going to happen to me and three others, including General Gul," he told IOL.
Khawaja was sacked from the service by then military ruler General Zia-ul-Haq after he openly criticized the latter’s policies, especially vis-à-vis Afghanistan in 1988.
He believes the US is trying to lay more pressures on the influential intelligence agency.
"This is a move to pressurize ISI. The whole move is aimed at targeting the ISI, which has always been a thrown in the eyes of America," Khawaja said.
"They (US) know that they cannot do anything against serving officers of the ISI because the government and the army are there to protect them. Therefore they have very cleverly targeted those officials, who are also disliked by the government."
Washington claims that the SIS is infiltrated by Taliban sympathizers and has repeatedly called for reforming the agency, which had played a pivotal role against the 1979-1989 Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.
"I was not surprised to hear that news because I knew I was already in their (US) list," Khawaja told IOL.
"They have been blaming me for every terrorist attack in the region. They first blamed me for the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts," he added.
"Whenever something happens, whether it is Daniel Pearl case or the Mumbai bombings, the US and RAW (Indian intelligence agency) see me involved," Khawaja said, referring to the Wall Street Journal reporter who was kidnapped and killed by militants in Karachi in February 2002.
Punished
Khawaja blames the government of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) for making him and his three colleagues scapegoats.
"The previous and the current governments have been trying to get rid of us because we not only openly criticize their policies regarding the so-called war on terror, but are also struggling for the release of hundreds of missing people, illegally detained by Pakistani and US security agencies."
Khawaja, a strong critic of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, was kidnapped by intelligence agencies in January 2007, and was released seven months later under pressures from human rights organizations.
"The US is also targeting me because I am campaigning for Guantanamo detainees. But I won’t be cowed down by any such move," said Khawaja, who is now working as chief coordinator of Defense of Human rights Council, which has been providing legal protection to the families of hundreds of missing Pakistanis.
General Gul, who joined army in 1958 as a second lieutenant, warned that if the government did not protect him and his colleagues, they would write to the UN chief.
"The government should immediately move to protect the ISI from this indirect attack from Washington," he said.
"The US and some other Western nations are against me for the simple reason that I do not support their war on terror, which is based on Washington's greed for energy."
Gul, one of the key army officers who have played an important role in war against the Soviets in Afghanistan, was forced to leave the ISI in 1989 by then premier Benazir Bhutto under pressure from the US, which considered him a hurdle to its policies in Afghanistan.
"I'm ready to face any neutral commission anywhere," said Gul.
"I hope the government will not show callousness towards its own individuals and institutions like the ISI, which is the first line of the country's defense. Therefore, it must be protected from any external onslaught."
|
