Spider group: Myth or reality?

Are Americans using retired Pakistani military men for their spy missions?

KARACHI:

Apart from former spymaster Hamid Gul, no military or defence expert seems to have even heard of the ‘Spider Group’, which is reportedly an elite squad of retired Pakistani military and intelligence personnel on American payroll.

The group’s name began doing the rounds in the media after the May 2 US raid in Abbottabad that killed Osama bin Laden. Allegedly, members of the group conducted on-the-ground surveillance and reconnaissance missions for American intelligence services before the raid. Shortly afterwards, The New York Times reported that the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency had arrested five Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) informants.

The same group is now reportedly working in cahoots with the CIA and ISI in digging out the whereabouts of Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar, who is also suspected of living somewhere in Pakistan.

Gul claims that he was the one who informed some journalists about the existence of such a group. But even if the group exists, how can Gul be in the know given that he retired from the ISI 22 years ago and left the military two decades ago? “It is true that no one continues to work for the ISI once they leave the armed forces,” Gul says.

According to Gul, the Spider group came into existence immediately after 9/11 when the Americans decided to form their own elite unit in the country using local operatives. Blaming then army chief General Musharraf for completely surrendering to the whims of the US, Gul claimed that not only were agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and CIA allowed to operate inside the country along with drones, the Spider group was formed that employed officials who had served Pakistani military and intelligence agencies on senior positions. Some Special Services Group (SSG) specialists were also hired.

They were tasked to not only carry out reconnaissance and spying missions for Americans in places like Swat and tribal areas, but also assist them in full-fledged assassination missions against al Qaeda and Taliban militants inside the country where Pakistani military and intelligence operatives allegedly hesitated in acting against certain groups. “The group is still being funded by the Americans,” Gul says.

But Asad Munir, a retired Pakistan Army brigadier, rubbished Gul’s claims. “I was ISI station chief in Peshawar between 1999 and 2003 when the group’s name first surfaced,” he said.

According to Munir, the group was formed in 2002 when the US consulate in Peshawar expressed the need for such an organisation given numerous al Qaeda threats. The purpose of this group was to consult on security protocols being maintained at the consulate and assist American officials keep a check on foreigners who were allegedly planning attacks on the US.

“Even back then, reports did spread that the Spider group is on a mission to destabilise the country,” Munir said, but as the ISI station chief he found no evidence whatsoever of any anti-state activities planned or conducted by the group. He mentioned the names of several retired military officials who were associated with the Spider group and none of them, according to Munir, did anything remotely suspicious. “They were our own people,” he said.

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director-General Athar Abbas denied that any such group is operating in the country. “The existence of Spider group is not to my knowledge,” he said. The military official, however, said that the Pakistan Army has its own elite unit called the Special Operations Task Force, comprising SSG commandos, that conducts anti-terrorist operations in the country.

The US embassy’s Country Information Officer Alberto Rodriguez also denied reports about the existence of the Spider group, especially its supposed role in the mission to kill Bin Laden and its current task to capture Mullah Omar. “This is the first time I’ve heard of such a group,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 2^nd, 2011.