az.ay
Politcal Worker (100+ posts)
Recently an Indian newspaper started propagating that ISPR head, Gen Athar Abbas, has admitted role of ISI officers in Mumbai blasts (Click here for the news item). Unfortunately Dawn also got carried away and published the story (Dawn news story).
Here is thought provoking analysis throwing light on how the Indian paper twisted Gen Athar Abbas's statement in his goodwill gesture of interacting with Indian journalists:
It seemed as if Pakistan was conceding the involvement of former Inter-Services Intelligence spies in the 2008 Mumbai attack, a major admission of something India has claimed for years.
CNN-IBN, the Indian cable news channel, put out a story on Monday saying Pakistan military spokesman Gen. Athar Abbas had told them in an interview that former ISI officers could have been involved in planning the rampage, which killed over 160 people. The story, picked up by other Indian and Pakistani media, said Gen. Abbas denied the ISIs involvement but significantly added that the involvement of retired or former ISI and Pakistani army men could not be ruled out.
But listen to the interview, embedded above CNN-IBNs story, and its clear that Gen. Abbas denies the involvement of former ISI operatives in the strikes.
The involvement of former ISI operatives would be an important admission given that the agency is viewed as the cream of Pakistans military establishment and also the most controversial. Britains Guardian newspaper reported Monday, quoting a classified U.S. document from 2007, that interrogators at Guantanamo Bay were told to consider detainees with links to the ISI as being involved in terrorist or insurgent activity.
Gen. Abbas does acknowledge that a former army major, Tahawar Rana, could possibly be involved. Mr. Rana, now a Canadian citizen, is detained in the U.S., where he is facing trial in a Chicago court for helping plan the Mumbai attack.
But Gen. Abbas stresses that Mr. Rana had no connection with the, any, intelligence agencies and a retired officer is a civilian, hes on his own.
Pakistans military issued a statement saying Gen. Abbass words had been distorted and taken out of context.
Surya Gangadharan, head of CNN-IBNs foreign news department, said: We stand by the story.
It might seem unimportant, but this kind of thing shows how far apart Pakistan and India stand on the Mumbai issue, which is holding up wider peace talks. The widespread belief in India is that the ISI runs Pakistan, harbors terrorists that want to attack India and gets away with it. Pakistans military says it has severed links with militants who it nurtured in the 1980s and 1990s to fight the Soviets and then Indian troops in Kashmir and cannot be held responsible for the actions of retired officers.
Meanwhile, U.S. prosecutors Monday charged four other Pakistanis for their alleged involvement in the Mumbai attacks.
The names include a man known only by his alias Major Iqbal, a suspected former Pakistani army major. None of the four suspects are in U.S. custody.
The mens names were added to a case which includes Mr. Rana and David Coleman Headley, the U.S.-Pakistani who is also in U.S. custody and charged with scouting sites for the Mumbai attacks, to which he has pleaded guilty. Mr. Rana is charged with aiding Mr. Headley and his trial is set to start soon. Mr. Rana has pleaded not guilty.
All men are suspected of links with Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistani militant group set up by the military in the 1990s to fight Indian troops in Kashmir. LeT militants are widely accepted as responsible for the terror attack in Mumbai.
Pakistans military says it has severed links with the group. But India believes current military and ISI continue to have links with LET militants.
Tom Wright
Here is thought provoking analysis throwing light on how the Indian paper twisted Gen Athar Abbas's statement in his goodwill gesture of interacting with Indian journalists:
It seemed as if Pakistan was conceding the involvement of former Inter-Services Intelligence spies in the 2008 Mumbai attack, a major admission of something India has claimed for years.
CNN-IBN, the Indian cable news channel, put out a story on Monday saying Pakistan military spokesman Gen. Athar Abbas had told them in an interview that former ISI officers could have been involved in planning the rampage, which killed over 160 people. The story, picked up by other Indian and Pakistani media, said Gen. Abbas denied the ISIs involvement but significantly added that the involvement of retired or former ISI and Pakistani army men could not be ruled out.
But listen to the interview, embedded above CNN-IBNs story, and its clear that Gen. Abbas denies the involvement of former ISI operatives in the strikes.
The involvement of former ISI operatives would be an important admission given that the agency is viewed as the cream of Pakistans military establishment and also the most controversial. Britains Guardian newspaper reported Monday, quoting a classified U.S. document from 2007, that interrogators at Guantanamo Bay were told to consider detainees with links to the ISI as being involved in terrorist or insurgent activity.
Gen. Abbas does acknowledge that a former army major, Tahawar Rana, could possibly be involved. Mr. Rana, now a Canadian citizen, is detained in the U.S., where he is facing trial in a Chicago court for helping plan the Mumbai attack.
But Gen. Abbas stresses that Mr. Rana had no connection with the, any, intelligence agencies and a retired officer is a civilian, hes on his own.
Pakistans military issued a statement saying Gen. Abbass words had been distorted and taken out of context.
Surya Gangadharan, head of CNN-IBNs foreign news department, said: We stand by the story.
It might seem unimportant, but this kind of thing shows how far apart Pakistan and India stand on the Mumbai issue, which is holding up wider peace talks. The widespread belief in India is that the ISI runs Pakistan, harbors terrorists that want to attack India and gets away with it. Pakistans military says it has severed links with militants who it nurtured in the 1980s and 1990s to fight the Soviets and then Indian troops in Kashmir and cannot be held responsible for the actions of retired officers.
Meanwhile, U.S. prosecutors Monday charged four other Pakistanis for their alleged involvement in the Mumbai attacks.
The names include a man known only by his alias Major Iqbal, a suspected former Pakistani army major. None of the four suspects are in U.S. custody.
The mens names were added to a case which includes Mr. Rana and David Coleman Headley, the U.S.-Pakistani who is also in U.S. custody and charged with scouting sites for the Mumbai attacks, to which he has pleaded guilty. Mr. Rana is charged with aiding Mr. Headley and his trial is set to start soon. Mr. Rana has pleaded not guilty.
All men are suspected of links with Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistani militant group set up by the military in the 1990s to fight Indian troops in Kashmir. LeT militants are widely accepted as responsible for the terror attack in Mumbai.
Pakistans military says it has severed links with the group. But India believes current military and ISI continue to have links with LET militants.
Tom Wright
