Another Dead Bhutto, General Gul, Hekmatyr, ...the ISI and the CIA - tangling the web and practising deceit.

It is early days to ascribe responsibility forBenazir Bhutto's assassination ...but .... the first guy that Pervez put behind bars when he declared what was effectively martial law was ...

Former ISI chief Hamid Gul arrested
Updated at Sunday, November 04, 2007 1305 PST
ISLAMABAD: The police on Sunday arrested Hamid Gul,(Urdū: لیفٹننٹ جنرل حمید گل) an outspoken former chief of Inter-Services Intelligence, Pakistan's premier spy agency, during a small public gathering.

I am going to break a news that Former ISI chief Lt General (Retd) Hamid Gul has been arrested,� said, the senior analyst of Geo Television Network Dr. Shahid Masood.

"It is not an emergency, it's martial law. One man has put the country at stake to save his rule," Gul said before he was pushed into a police van and whisked off.

Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, PML-Q politician and chief minister of Pakistan's Punjab province, and Ijaz Shah, the director general of the Intelligence Bureau, another of the country’s intelligence agencies.

... are names to watch ..General Gul a favorite of CIA Station Chief Milt Bearden and US ambassador to Pakistan Arnie Raphel, (who died in the crash that killed President Zia ul Haq) who view him as an ally and a potential national leader of Pakistan.

Milt Bearden is now retired (?) from the CIA and is a frequent contributor to the Op-Ed pages of the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, and has contributed to Foreign Affairs and to the book on September 11, 2001, How Did This Happen?, published by Public Affairs. He is a consultant for CBS News.

The BBC reported in January this year that a captured Taliban spokesman, Muhammad Hanif, said their leader Mullah Omar is living in the border town of Quetta in Pakistan under the protection of its ISI intelligence agency. He also claimed former ISI head Hamid Gul is supporting the Taleban against Afghan and foreign troops.

The ISI was instrumental claimed the BBC in backing the Taleban after civil war swept Afghanistan following the withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1989.



Wit and Wisdom of General Gul

"We are not afraid of the Americans; they can't fight on the ground. We are only concerned about their high-altitude bombers."
"I turned against America because they betrayed the Afghan nation." (rediff.com Feb 2004)

"Mossad and its accomplices [are the 9/11 culprits]. The U.S. spends $40 billion a year on its 11 intelligence agencies. That's $400 billion in 10 years. Yet the Bush Administration says it was taken by surprise. I don't believe it. Within 10 minutes of the second twin tower being hit in the World Trade Center CNN said Osama bin Laden had done it. That was a planned piece of disinformation by the real perpetrators." (UPI United Press International, Sep. 26, 2001).

"The Muslim world must stand united to confront the U.S. in its so-called war against terror which is in reality a war against Muslims. Let’s destroy America wherever its troops are trapped." PBS

My Enemy;s enemy is my enemy ?

US Is Said to Be Relying on ISI for Intelligence in Afghan War The US, lacking local agents and intelligence in Afghanistan, is said to be heavily reliant on the ISI for information about the Taliban. The US is said to be confident in the ISI, even though the ISI was the main supporter of the Taliban up until 9/11. Knight Ridder Newspapers comments, “Anti-Taliban Afghans, foreign diplomats, and Pakistani government security officials say that pro-Taliban officers remain deeply embedded within ISI and might still be helping America’s enemies inside Afghanistan.” A leader of the resistance to the Taliban says, “There are lots of (ISI) officers who are fully committed to the way of the Taliban and Osama bin Laden.” Former ISI Director Hamid Gul says, “It is a foolish commander who depends on someone else’s intelligence, especially when that someone doesn’t like him and was once friendly with the enemy.” [Knight Ridder, 11/3/2001] Later in the month another article notes that the CIA continues to rely on the ISI for covert actions against the Taliban. One CIA agent says, “The same Pakistani case officers who built up the Taliban are doing the translating for the CIA. Our biggest mistake is allowing the ISI to be our eyes and ears.”

PS :

Nov 15 2007 : Dawn newspaper reported ... Former ISI Chief Gen (retired) Hameed Gul, his son and two other detained people were released after government withdrew detention orders here on Thursday.

Earlier, there was a report that Saudi government has intervened to secure the release of former ISI chief. The report was not denied by the Pakistani government.

On Wednesday, Gen Hameed Gul and his son were shifted to their Chaklala residence, which had been declared as sub-jail. However, the personnel of law enforcement agencies were removed from his house on Thursday after the withdrawal of the detention order.

A senior officer of Islamabad administration confirmed to Dawn that the city management had withdrawn the detention orders of Gen (retired) Gul, his son Abdullah Gul, a political activist and a lawyer of Islamabad Bar Association.