Islamabad - Pakistan has appointed a new chief of the
country's main spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in a
major reshuffle of the senior military leadership.
Lieutenant General Ahmed Shuja Pasha was appointed ISI director
general, according to an army statement issued late Tuesday. He will
replace Lieutenant General Nadeem Taj, a loyalist of former president
Pervez Musharraf, who resigned in August to avoid impeachment.
Army Chief General Ishfaq Parvez Kayani also appointed, with the
approval of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, a new chief of general
staff and replaced four of the nine corps commanders. The move is
also to strengthen Kayani's grip over his forces.
The reshuffle comes at a time when Islamabad has intensified its
push against the Islamist extremist Taliban and al-Qaeda militants in
the lawless tribal region along the Afghan border.
Analysts believe the appointment of Pasha, who has been overseeing
the recent military offensive against Islamic militants in tribal
areas as the former director operations, would make the spy organ
more effective in the country's fight against terrorism.
The ISI intelligence agency has been in the limelight since 2001
when Pakistan joined the international alliance against terrorism
that was created after the attacks by the al-Qaeda terrorist network
on United States.
Some officials in Washington have suspected that rogue elements in
the agency have supported ongoing Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan.
At the same time the ISI has captured hundreds of suspected al-
Qaeda operatives and handed them over to the United States and other
Western countries, an effort that attracted heavy criticism from
Pakistan's opposition political parties, Islamists and rights groups.
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