Lt Gen Islam likely to play major role in talks with Afghan Taliban: NYT

ISLAMABAD: According to US newspaper 'The New York Times' report, new ISI chief Lt. Gen. Zahir-ul-Islam is likely to play a significant role in peace talks with the Afghan Taliban.

According to the report, appointment of a new general to run the country’s most powerful intelligence agency on Friday, signals an important change in the military leadership at a pivotal moment in relations with the United States.

Lt. Gen. Zahir-ul-Islam will take over as the director general of the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI) on March 18, replacing Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, who has held the post since 2008, the report said.

NYT writes, the ISI chief is the second most powerful figure in the military — some would argue in the country — and General Islam is likely to play a significant role in peace talks with the Afghan Taliban.

The report said, although the ISI officially reports to the prime minister, in reality it is controlled by the army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, with whom General Pasha had a close relationship during the agency’s turbulent relationship with the United States in recent years.

A succession of spy scandals sent the ISI’s relationship with the Central Intelligence Agency and, more broadly, with the United States to a historic low in 2011, it added.

Tensions rose in January 2011 after Raymond Davis shot and killed two Pakistanis in Lahore, and then worsened in May after the surprise American raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad.

In September, Adm. Mike Mullen, then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said at a Congressional hearing that the pro-Taliban militant group known as the Haqqani network was a “virtual arm” of the ISI, prompting fresh tumult.

However, the ISI and the CIA have quietly worked to rebuild ties in the past month, and officials from both countries say the relationship is slowly mending.

The US newspaper writes, General Islam’s first job is likely to involve refashioning relations with Washington, which have been virtually frozen since an erroneous American attack near the border with Afghanistan in November killed 24 Pakistani troops.

At a special joint session of Parliament set for this month, Pakistan’s politicians will debate the broad contours of a new policy toward the United States.

Few doubt, however, that core elements of the relationship will be determined by General Kayani and General Islam in consultation with President Asif Ali Zardari.

One likely obstacle will be the continuing CIA drone strikes, the report said.