‘Karzai worked for ISI’
Daily Times, October 8, 2006
* Former official says no serving ISI officer capable of offering Taliban ‘tangible help’
LAHORE: Afghanistan’s president is a former associate of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and he worked for it when the agency had its horns locked with the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, Qatar’s leading daily the Peninsula disclosed quoting a former ISI official.
“Mr Karzai had been with us during the entire Jihad. He was commissioned with me. Not only him – his brother, his father – all of them were working with us – I know the whole family,” revealed former ISI officer Col (r) Shuja Khanzada in an interview. “They (Karzais) used to call on me every week for instructions. Today, he is talking rubbish,” he added.
On the issue of former ISI officers assisting the Taliban, Khanzada said that no serving ISI officer was aiding the Taliban in their insurgency. “Certain retired officers may have emotional ties with the Taliban along with whom they fought for 10 years, but they cannot offer them any tangible help because retired personnel are not capable of supporting a movement.”
Pakistan’s spy agency has recently come under fire from all directions. In a report published by the British Ministry of Defence, the ISI has been accused of fostering ties with “extremist” elements in the region. The document has gone so far as to propose the dismantling of the agency.
In his recent visit to the US, the Afghan president complained to the Americans that the ISI was supporting the resurgent Taliban movement that controls much of southern Afghanistan today. Khanzada, who is also a member of the Punjab Chief Minister’s Inspection Team, brushed all these charges aside, pointing out that the timing of the accusations revealed a visible pattern behind the sudden onslaught on the ISI. “This appears to be the sequel to the campaign launched by American media in 1992 when they wanted to clip the wings of the ISI,” he said.
Presenting the other side of the picture, Khanzada said: “The ISI is one of the best intelligence agencies in the world. It has been tasked with the responsibility of safeguarding the country’s integrity and sovereignty both domestically and internationally.”
“The Afghan Jiha
1 comment:
and how does Karzai's past ISI links make him any less credible? If anything the converse is the case - for he knows what he speaks of TODAY
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