ISI , IJI Mehran Bank, Habib Bank Nexus

Army denies new ISI chief related to Shah Rukh Khan
By News Desk
Published: March 11, 2012

Interestingly, Islam is among the batch of officers who have been ‘groomed’ by the Chief of Army Staff in the ‘new look’ ISI.

The Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) has denied reports that the new ISI director-general designate Lt Gen Zaheerul Islam was distantly related to Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan. The Times of India had reported that the new ISI chief shared a tenuous link with Shahrukh Khan.

The report had also said that the new ISI chief is the nephew of Indian National Army hero Shah Nawaz Khan, while actor Shahrukh Khan’s late mother Lateef Fatima was Shah Nawaz’s adopted daughter.

Pakistan Army spokesperson Maj-Gen Athar Abbas denied the report of the link with Shahrukh Khan as incorrect. He did not comment on the spymaster being a nephew of Shah Nawaz.

Islam’s father served as a brigadier in the Pakistan Army and Shah Nawaz, who was a major-general in the INA, was his uncle, leading Pakistani defence analyst Ikram Sehgal told Press Trust of India.

Shah Rukh Khan’s late mother Lateef Fatima was the adopted daughter of Shah Nawaz, the PTI had said.

Islam, who was yesterday appointed the new head of the powerful spy agency, comes from a military family and was born in Rawalpindi. It could not immediately be ascertained whether Islam had ever met Shah Nawaz, who died in 1983.

Shah Nawaz served in the British Indian Army during World War II. He was captured in 1942 and then joined the INA.

Shah Nawaz was captured by the British and put on trial with other INA officers in 1946. They were convicted for treason but were discharged due to pressure from the public.

He later joined the Congress party and was elected to the Lok Sabha four times.

Before Islam’s appointment as the ISI chief, some media reports had suggested that Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan’s uncle Maj-Gen Isfandyar Ali Khan Pataudi, a deputy director general in the spy agency, was in the running for the top slot. However, sources told PTI that Pataudi was never seen as a serious contender for the post of ISI chief. (With additional input from NNI)

Published in The Express Tribune, March 11th, 2012.











Mar. 10, 2012 1:28 AM ET
Pakistan's top court targets army
ASIF SHAHZAD, Associated Press THE ASSOCIATED PRESS STATEMENT OF NEWS VALUES AND PRINCIPLES

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Former Pakistan army chief, retired General Mirza Aslam Beg, center, leaves the Supreme Court after hearing of the Mehran Bank scandal in Islamabad, Pakistan on Friday, March 9, 2012. Pakistan's powerful military establishment is under rare scrutiny from the country's top court, which after a gap of 16 years has opened an investigation into allegations it funneled money to politicians in the 1990's to influence elections. (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash)
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ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan's powerful military establishment is under rare scrutiny from the country's top court, which after a gap of 16 years has opened an investigation into allegations the army funneled money to politicians to influence elections.

The case has showcased the emerging power of the Supreme Court, which is also hearing a contempt case against the prime minister that could see him imprisoned. The court's activism has led to some uncomfortable headlines for politicians and pierced the perception of the generals' invulnerability.

But it's unclear who, if anyone, will be held accountable.

Indeed, some critics say by moving against the generals now, the court is just seeking to deflect criticism that it focuses solely on the alleged misdeeds of the elected civilian government and wants to dislodge President Ali Zardari, with the supposed nod from the military itself.

The court is also demanding answers from the army and spy agencies over the fate of hundreds of "missing" Pakistanis: suspected militants or separatists picked up and held by military authorities for months and years in secret detentions.

Analysts say the developments are part of jostling between the army, the court and the government, with each wanting to stake a claim on its sphere of influence. There seems to be a balance among them so far, with no side willing or strong enough to strike a decisive blow against another. Speculation of a military coup or the imminent ousting of the government, frequently raised in the media just a few months ago, has receded.

The court is acting on a petition filed in 1996 by former Air Vice Marshal Asghar Khan, demanding it investigate what he claimed were payments to right-wing politicians made by the army-run Inter-Services Intelligence spy agency, known as the ISI. The money was to be used to ensure that the Pakistan People's Party — currently in power — would not win the 1990 general elections.

Without explaining why, the court began hearing the case last month. Testimony this week has shone a light on longtime allegations that the ISI has tried to influence elections.

On Thursday, Yunus Habib, a 90-year-old banker from the state-owned Mehran Bank, testified that he doled out the equivalent of $1.5 million in bank funds to politicians and ISI officers on the orders of then army chief Gen. Aslam Beg and President Ghulam Ishaq Khan, who was considered close to the army.

Some of the politicians who allegedly took the funds remain powerful political players, including opposition leader and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. He has denied taking any money.

On Friday, former ISI chief Lt. Gen. Asad Durrani testified that he was directed by Beg to distribute the money among politicians from the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad, a right-wing political alliance allegedly set up by the military establishment to counter the PPP. He said Beg told him the money had been collected from the business community in Karachi.

The alleged bribes didn't give the alliance victory, however. It won 53 seats in the National Assembly, 49 less than the PPP that went on to form the government.

What happens next is uncertain.

Khan's lawyer Salman Raja said he wanted criminal cases brought against all those who distributed and received the money. That would roil the political scene and likely be opposed by the army. Moreover, the nature of the evidence against them is unclear.

Retired justice Tariq Mahmood said the case was a "morale booster" for the current government, but that it was unlikely anyone would be put on trial. "The government now has a chance to bring the intelligence agencies ... under its control," he said.

Political analyst Moeed Pirzada said the case put both the military and Nawaz Sharif on the defensive, which benefits the current PPP government, but would likely remain inconclusive. He said the court saw the case as "an opportunity to assert itself" following criticism by some over its pursuit of President Asif Ali Zardari.

Supreme Court justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudry has been accused of pursuing a vendetta against Zardari's PPP government. Zardari opposed Chaudry's reinstatement to the job in March 2009. The court has ordered Prime Minister Yusaf Raza Gilani to reopen a corruption probe against Zardari.

Gilani has refused, arguing that Zardari has immunity from prosecution so long as he remains president. If found guilty of contempt for ignoring the order, Gilani could be imprisoned for six months and lose his job.

___

Associated Press writer Chris Brummitt contributed to this report from Islamabad.
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ACCEPTED: Rs3.5 million is the amount Nawaz allegedly received from Younis Habib. Shahbaz Shahbaz allegedly received Rs2.5 million, says Raja Riaz.
LAHORE:

The house met on Friday for about 90 minutes. The proceedings though short were eventful.

Shortly after the Question Hour, Leader of the Opposition Raja Riaz, rising on a point of order, started criticising Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Nawaz Sharif and Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif for “taking money from generals”. The diatribe ended with a demand: the chief minister must come to the house and answer legislators’ questions, under oath.

This was followed by treasury members chanting slogans against President Asif Ali Zardari and thumping of desks. The Opposition retaliated with desk-thumping and slogans against the Sharif brothers. Riaz tried to continue but stopped because of the commotion.

Amidst the din, PPP’s Sajida Meer asked the speaker to let the opposition leader continue because it was his right to express his point of view. The advice was ignored. This led to the PPP boycotting the proceedings.

PML-Q’s Asghar Goral then pointed out the quorum, a requirement that treasury members were unable to meet. The session was then adjourned till 3pm on Monday.

The harsh exchange was not confined to the house. The PPP and PML-N leaders also expressed their disdain for each other before the session started.

“Shahbaz and Nawaz Sharif claim that their politics is based on principles,” commented Raja Riaz while talking to reporters. Former Mehran Bank president Younis Habib’s statement in the Supreme Court, he said, had exposed the ‘principles’ they stood for. Riaz quoted Habib as saying that Shahbaz had been given Rs2.5 million while Nawaz had received Rs3.5 million from the army to topple the PPP-led government in 1990.

The opposition leader said that the PPP had tried to tell the public that PML-N was a “party of dictators” that had always gained power with the support of generals.

Riaz also criticised the Sharif brothers for fleeing the country after reaching an agreement with General (retd) Pervez Musharraf. They lied to the nation even after the contract was made public, said Riaz, adding that they had yet to apologise to the public.

Raja asked the Sharif brothers to “resign immediately” for taking money from the army otherwise, he warned, another rebel like Javed Hashmi would rise from within the party and reveal the ‘truth’.

Law Minister Rana Sanaullah, in his talk with reporters, called the allegations “false” and “baseless”. He said that the PPP government had crossed “all limits” in corruption. The government was trying to divert the public’s attention from its own wrongdoings – corruption and compromising the commissions formed to investigate the May 2 attack and the murder of Saleem Shehzad, he said. Sanauallah said that since the matter was sub-judice he could not discuss it in any detail. He, however, assured the public that the Sharif brothers will appear in court to clear their names. “The PML-N will comply with the Supreme Court’s decision, whatever it is,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 10th, 2012