Tag: ISI DG Lt Gen Faiz Hameed

  • PM approves national intelligence body for effective coordination among spy agencies

    PM approves national intelligence body for effective coordination among spy agencies

    Prime Minister Imran Khan has approved the formation of the National Intelligence Coordination Committee for effective coordination among the over two dozen intelligence organisations in the country.

    According to a report in Dawn.com, the committee will be headed by Inter-Services Intelligence chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed. According to the report, though the terms of reference of the body have yet to be finalised, the proposal for the body was submitted to the premier after a thorough discussion between the intelligence agencies.

    The move is part of the long-awaited reform of the intelligence apparatus, which aims at clarifying the role of respective agencies, improving their coordination, and optimising their capabilities, said the report.

    In past, the civilian government made multiple attempts to reform intelligence agencies, but to no avail, specifically due to differences over the leadership of the new body.

    In 2008, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government placed the ISI and Intelligence Bureau (IB) under the “administrative and financial” control of the Ministry of Interior, but the notification was retracted following a backlash from the military officials.

    Similarly, attempts by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government to reform the intelligence agencies of the country failed.

  • VIDEO: Army, ISI chiefs accused of toppling Nawaz govt

    VIDEO: Army, ISI chiefs accused of toppling Nawaz govt

    Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has accused Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa of toppling his government, pressuring the judiciary, and installing the current government of Prime Minister Imran Khan in the 2018 general elections.

    Nawaz Sharif was speaking via video link from London to a gathering of tens of thousands of people organised by opposition parties to kick-off a countrywide protest campaign in Gujranwala aiming to oust the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    “Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, you packed up our government, which was working well, and put the nation and the country at the alter of your wishes,” Nawaz told the gathering — the largest since the 2018 elections.

    The former prime minister also accused Lt Gen Faiz Hameed, the chief of the Inter-Services Intelligence, of being involved in conspiring against his government.

    PAKISTAN DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT:

    Nine major opposition parties formed a joint platform called the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) last month to begin a nationwide agitation against the government.

    Nawaz, whose Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is the main opposition party, was sacked by the Supreme Court in 2017 on corruption charges and left for London last November for medical treatment.

    He blames generals and judges for what he says were trumped up charges. The military, however, denies meddling in politics.

    Maryam Nawaz, the daughter and political heir of Sharif and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, the son of assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto who heads her Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), also addressed the gathering. Both criticised the Khan government for what they called bad governance and mismanagement of the economy.

    Speakers at the gathering called for Khan’s resignation and an end to military’s interference in politics.

    The next general election is scheduled for 2023.

    “Go Imran go. Your time is up!” shouted tens of thousands of the opposition supporters gathered at the Gujranwala stadium.

    Imran, who came to power on an anti-graft platform and denies the army helped him win, said on Friday he wasn’t afraid of the opposition’s campaign, which was aimed at blackmailing him to drop corruption cases against their leaders.

    The protest campaign comes at a time when Pakistan is experiencing an economic crisis, with inflation touching double digits and negative growth.

  • PPP writes to ISI chief for action against Pakistan-based US blogger over tweet about Benazir Bhutto

    PPP writes to ISI chief for action against Pakistan-based US blogger over tweet about Benazir Bhutto

    Former ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has written to the director general (DG) of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), seeking action against Pakistan-based American blogger and columnist Cynthia D Ritchie over her “hateful comments and slander” against the late former prime minister (PM) Benazir Bhutto.

    As per the details, Ritchie made the comment on a tweet discussing the recent violent confrontation between model Uzma Khan and a woman named Amna Usman, who accused the model of having a relationship with her husband of 13 years and used this allegation to justify her violent treatment of the model.

    Ritchie’s tweet garnered a strong reaction from PPP leaders and supporters, with Sherry Rehman saying, “Attributing such filth to a champion for women’s rights, a martyred prime minister degrades the writer of this bot-handle more than anything else.”

    While Ritchie is since continuing her tirade against the PPP over the micro-blogging website, former PPP senator Sehar Kamran has written to spymaster Faiz Hameed, seeking an investigation into the “notorious activities” of Ritchie.

    In the letter, a copy of which is available with The Current, Kamran highlighted how the American columnist has “time and again instigated controversy” and is also playing a role in “deepening the civil-military divide”.

    “The imagery presented by her pictures with military leadership and senior bureaucracy, and access as a foreign tourist to generally sensitive locations ([erstwhile] FATA [Federally Administrated Tribal Areas], Kashmir, etc) is deepening the civil-military divide by unnecessarily implicating national institutions as her support base. It may be useful at this juncture to further investigate all of Ms Ritchie’s activities, which I am certain range beyond her social media commentaries, to protect our national interests,” read the letter.

    The excerpt was followed by a list of questions:

    • Why and in what capacity is Ms Ritchie a resident in Pakistan?
    • What is the nature and duration of her visa status?
    • Who is her sponsor to this end?
    • A regular expat who initially introduced herself as a ‘tourist’ and a ‘belly dancer’ has somehow become embroiled in Pakistani politics, by her own assertion at the highest levels? How?
    • What Is the purpose behind her provoking public sentiment, and furthering bitterness in an already politically polarised society?
    • Furthermore, why is her vitriol targeted towards Sindh, and has conveniently emerged at a time when the province was receiving praise and support for its efforts in the fight against COVID-19?
    • What is the official government policy on the continued presence of such suspicious characters in Pakistan?

    While the PPP leader also sought Ritchie’s deportation, here’s what the blogger hit back with:

    As neither side appears to be going easy on each other, a war of words is continuing over Twitter.

    Separately, in a letter to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), an advocate at the Islamabad High Court (IHC) and Islamabad president of the PPP, Shakeel Abbasi, has also sought action against Ritchie for her “very derogatory and slanderous remarks” about Bhutto and former president Asif Ali Zardari’s marital life.

  • PM’s first official visit to Presidency for ‘most important’ meeting with Dr Alvi, ISI chief

    PM’s first official visit to Presidency for ‘most important’ meeting with Dr Alvi, ISI chief

    In what is being called the “most important” meeting, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has called on President Dr Arif Alvi in his maiden official trip to the Presidency, and the two were later joined by Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General (DG) Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed.

    While an official press release says that the three discussed various domestic and international issues, including the COVID-19 pandemic, precautionary arrangements for the forthcoming holy month of Ramzan and Indian aggression against people of held Kashmir, a report has quoted political quarters as terming it a meeting of the big three.

    The report that emphasised on the most important aspect of the gathering, did not drop any hint regarding it.

    The president appreciated the government steps to curb the spread of coronavirus in the country and the PM’s measures for seeking relief in the debt to be paid by the developing countries, the official version maintained.

    Later, the ISI chief also joined the meeting that condemned unprovoked Indian firing along the Line of Control (LoC). They also denounced the usurping of rights of Kashmiris in the garb of coronavirus in Indian-occupied Kashmir (IoK).

    The premier reportedly thanked the president and lauded his efforts to evolve a consensus among religious quarters regarding prayers and Taraweeh at mosques during Ramzan.