‘Major surprises’ expected in talks with militants, ISI tells senators

ISI simply does what is asked of it by the government, be it civilian or military, says General Pasha.

ISLAMABAD: In an unusual three-hour meeting behind closed doors, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Shuja Pasha and his deputies briefed a Senate panel on the country’s war against terror policy, which they claimed is going through a “holistic review” to correspond with changes in the United States’ plans in Afghanistan.

Some “major surprises” are expected in Islamabad’s peace talks with the Taliban, the agency said during the briefing at the ISI headquarters in Islamabad on Thursday, according to sources.

Around five members of the Senate’s standing committee on defence, headed by former ISI chief Lt General (Retd) Javed Ashraf Qazi, were briefed on the ISI’s role, particularly in terms of the war against terrorism.

Declining from attending the briefing, Senator Raza Rabbani of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Professor Khurshid Ahmed of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) were of the view that the agency  should have come to the parliament for this meeting.

Senate Deputy Chairman Jan Jamali and Senator Tariq Azim were out of the country, whereas Maulana Muhammad Khan Sherani was unable to turn up due to his health condition, a participant of the briefing said.

Members who did attend the meeting shared very little information of the in-camera session that went on from 10 am to 1 pm.

“After the ISI officials briefed the participants about the functions of their agency, members posed various questions before the agency officials to clarify the myths and reality associated with the ISI,” a participant said.

Some of the participants were curious about the agency’s modus operandi in terms of the country’s political affairs; however, sources said, the spy chief opted to skip such questions.

The ISI official denied that the agency plays any role in the country’s political affairs, a participant said, while another claimed that Pasha admitted to the agency’s involvement but said that the ISI simply does what is asked of it by the government, be it civilian or military.

“They [ISI officials] said ‘we have been doing what the government of the time asks us to do … these days there are no such directions from this civilian government’,” a senator said.

During the briefing the ISI chief and his deputies confirmed that talks with the Taliban, mainly homegrown militants, were at an advanced stage and some major breakthrough was expected over the next few months.

The ISI officials were confident that there would be some “big surprises” on this front, the senator said, adding that according to the ISI officials, the overall dimension of the Afghan situation is rapidly changing. “We continue to review our policy with a holistic approach to correspond with changes in the policy of the major players,” another senator quoted the spy agency’s officials as saying.

To a question regarding the Osama bin Laden debacle, the senator said the ISI feels the episode was not solely the agency’s failure but was also a failure on the CIA’s part and that of top spy agencies of other allied countries.

There was no discussion, however, on the Memogate affair, the participants claimed.

One participant from a military background said he was not only satisfied with the briefing, but also paid accolades to the ISI. “The ISI is the best spy agency in the world. It has been succeeding in its mission. Bashing of the ISI and the army by the people of Pakistan is unfortunate … they do not know the real functions of this agency,” he said.

Professor Khurshid Ahmed who boycotted the briefing said he and a few other colleagues of his believed that every institution, including the armed forces, should come before the parliament to give such briefings – unless there is something that they cannot divulge before the house.

(Read: Talking to the Taliban)

Published in The Express Tribune, December 30^th, 2011.