WikiLeaks: Kayani used military appointments to increase control

Cable reveals General Kayani used regular promotion and transfer season to replace men appointed by Musharraf.

General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani had used the Army’s “regular promotion and transfer season” to promote major generals, including current Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Ahmed Shujaa Pasha and others, to increase his control over military operations, revealed a recently released WikiLeaks cable.

The cable (reference no. 172986) dated August 10, 2008 and sent from the United States embassy in Islamabad reveals that Kayani had told US Admiral Mike Mullen that he would use the promotion system to increase his control. Kayani had replaced men appointed by former president Pervez Musharraf with those loyal to him.

While this was part of the Army’s regular promotion and transfer season, it enabled Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Kayani to replace officers selected by former President and COAS Musharraf with men loyal to him. Although the promotions and transfers technically were blessed by PM Gilani, the personnel changes were all based on Kayani’s choices.

Out of all the appointments, the most prominent ones were the appointment of Pasha and Tariq Khan, who took over as Inspector General (IG) of the Frontier Corps.

The US felt that Kayani had not directly responded to Mullen’s request of reforms in the ISI, but Pasha being appointed was a move in the right direction.

Pasha had replaced the “recalcitrant” Lieutenant General Nadeem Taj, who according to the cable “never seemed comfortable in his role as intelligence chief and was reluctant to engage with his US counterparts”.

According to a report on The Daily Beast website, Pasha was not keen on taking over as ISI chief as he had “no background on intelligence”. Pasha was an infantry armor officer and was close to Kayani, under whom he had served as infantry officer.

Cable Referenced: WikiLeaks no. 172986

The full text of the cables can be read on Dawn.com, The HinduandNDTV. WikiLeaks has previously released cables to other media organisations including Guardian and the New York Times.