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PAKISTAN/US: Gilani Can Expect Grilling Over Spy Agency’s Role

Amir Mir

ISLAMABAD, Jul 28 2008 (IPS) - By attempting to place Pakistan’s shadowy Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) under civilian control, ahead of a trip to the United States, Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has revealed eagerness to deflect mounting criticism over the agency’s role in the failing ‘war on terror’ in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai and leaders of Pakistan’s other neighbour, India, have repeatedly pointed fingers at the ISI as the mastermind behind bombings and terrorist acts in their countries.

Islamabad has found itself defending charges that the ISI was behind an attempt to assassinate Karzai in April and the Jul. 7 suicide bomber attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul that killed 58 people, including two top Indian diplomats.

The ISI is known, with covert backing from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, to have helped train and arm the Mujahideen (holy warriors) against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan during the 1980s. Later, in the 1990s, the ISI created the fundamentalist Taliban movement in Afghanistan and helped it to seize control of the country. But in the wake of the Sep. 11, 2001 aerial attacks on the U.S., Pakistan – at least officially – stopped supporting the Taliban and joined the U.S.-led ‘war on terror’ in Afghanistan.

Gilani’s attempt to clip the ISI’s wings may, however, be short-lived. Hours after issuance of an official notification, placing the ISI under the interior ministry’s control, the military leadership compelled the government, on Sunday, to withdraw the orders.

It is now uncertain if the ISI, often described as a state within state, will now work under the interior ministry or continue under the direct control of the defence ministry. A statement on Sunday said Saturday’s notification “only re-emphasises more coordination between ministry of interior and ISI in relation to war on terror and internal security’’. A ‘’comprehensive notification’’ would clarify details, it said.

Gilani is expected to hold talks with U.S. President George W. Bush on Monday and face probing questions about Islamabad’s commitment to fighting the Taliban and al-Qaeda militants along the Afghan border. His visit comes amid mounting fears that the U.S. military was preparing to launch “hot pursuit” raids into Pakistan’s tribal belt.

Cross-border ambushes launched from Pakistan’s tribal belt have become a serious source of frustration and anxiety for top U.S. policymakers who have taken to directly blaming Islamabad for the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Pakistan has deployed 80,000 troops along the Pak-Afghan border in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), but the situation is far from stable in the lawless region.

On Jun. 17 Karzai threatened to send his army to capture or kill the Pakistani Taliban leaders in their homes. The threats were aimed at Taliban chief Mullah Mohammad Omar and his Pakistani lieutenants Baitullah Mehsud and Maulana Fazlullah.

Gilani condemned the statement, saying the Afghan President’s tirade was tantamount to throwing a spanner in Islamabad’s efforts to fight terrorism.

Rahimullah Yousafzai, a Peshawar-based senior journalist and an expert on Afghan affairs, believes that Karzai was actually speaking on behalf of Washington. ”Karzai could not have spoken without Washington’s blessings. There are clear indications that the Bush administration is orchestrating the policy of ensuring that the new government in Pakistan reverses its policy or face destabilisation,” Yousafzai told IPS.

Writer and analyst Hasan Askari Rizvi predicts that during Gilani’s visit to Washington, President Bush would have one simple question for him – whether Pakistan has the will to manage the affairs in the restive tribal areas?

According to military analyst Lt. Gen. (retd) Talat Masood, the actual bone of contention is the peace deal the new government in Islamabad signed with the Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked Pakistani militants, especially at a time when the Taliban in Afghanistan have stepped up their terrorist activities against the NATO troops.

Masood told IPS that ”the Americans are highly sceptical about these peace deals and refer to past experiences of 2005 and 2007 when the Taliban militants had used the signing of these pacts to consolidate and expand their influence in the Pak-Afghan tribal areas and enhance capabilities to launch cross-border attacks into Afghanistan against NATO forces.’’

Showing its anger at these deals, Pentagon recently issued a statement saying: “Pakistan should make sure the deals are worth more than the paper they are written on.”

On Jun. 10, weeks after these deals were struck, the U.S. and allied forces targeted a security post of the Pakistan army in the Mohmand Agency in the FATA of Pakistan with drone missiles and killed 27 Pakistanis including 13 soldiers. The attack further inflamed the anti-America sentiment in the NWFP and FATA, especially after the U.S. refused to offer an apology.

On Jul. 25, a summit of the ruling coalition partners was held in Islamabad to evolve a policy for tackling the thorny issue of militancy. The marathon session, which was also attended by army chief Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, reached a consensus that the tribal militants should be negotiated with rather than opposed with brute force.

Briefing newsmen afterwards, information minister Sherry Rehman said the main thrust of the participants was on countering the challenge of extremism through political engagement of the people. She, however, added: “The coalition partners reiterated that Pakistan’s territory would not be allowed to be used for terrorist attacks, nor will attacks from external forces on Pakistan’s sovereign soil be tolerated.”

According to foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the actual problem is the difference in perceptions between Washington and Islamabad to the war on terror.

“Pakistan feels the U.S. and NATO forces are not addressing the real problems in Afghanistan that have given Taliban the strength to dominate several provinces in the south of the country and are the root cause of militancy. And no effort has been made to strengthen state structures in South, South-East and South-West Afghanistan. The international community has paid little attention to repatriation and rehabilitation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan, and the refugee situation remains a source of potential militancy and instability,” Qureshi said.

”On the contrary, the blame is being placed on Pakistan for all these problems. Besides, by relying heavily on airpower and less on ground operations, the U.S. and NATO forces push the militants to the Pakistani side, and then expect that we will fight their war with all its attendant fallout, including collateral damage,” Qureshi added.