World | Pakistan
Government rescinds order on control of spy agency
The government has suspended an order issued last month to place the military's powerful spy agency under the control of the Interior Ministry, according to an official statement.
- Reuters
- Published: 00:07 August 7, 2008
Islamabad: The government has suspended an order issued last month to place the military's powerful spy agency under the control of the Interior Ministry, according to an official statement.
Feared by neighbouring Afghanistan and India, and reportedly mistrusted by the United States despite its help in countering the Al Qaida, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency is also believed to have played a role in destabilising past civilian governments.
Late last month the government issued a decree putting the ISI and its civilian cousin, the Intelligence Bureau, under the purview of the Interior Ministry.
The government reversed course a day later, saying the move had been "misinterpreted".
Without withdrawing the decree, it said a new, more detailed one would follow.
Late on Tuesday, it issued a statement saying the July 26 decree was held in "abeyance", pending consultations with various branches of the intelligence network.
"The prime minister is pleased to direct that the federal government will carry out further deliberation on coordinating the intelligence efforts," the statement said.
The flip-flop has caused further disillusionment with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's government, at a time when there are mounting doubts about its ability to handle multiple crises.
Those include raging inflation, plunging markets, food and fuel shortages, and rising militancy in the restive northwest. The clumsy move to rein in the ISI had caused an uproar among senior ranks in the army.
Strong speculation
There is strong speculation coalition party leaders Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif could seal agreement on impeaching President Pervez Musharraf, who came to power in a coup in 1999.
Musharraf, who has been a key ally of the US in its war against terrorism, stepped down as army chief last November, and promoted General Ashfaq Kiyani, who had been head of the ISI, to succeed him. The current ISI chief, Nadeem Taj, was also chosen by Musharraf.
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