Posted on 08/02/2008 11:55:33 AM PDT by CarrotAndStick
ISLAMABAD, Aug 1: Pakistan on Friday angrily rejected a report that the United States had accused its main spy agency – ISI – of helping to plan a fatal bombing at India’s embassy in Kabul last month.
Citing unnamed officials, the New York Times said intercepted communications had provided clear evidence that the ISI was involved in the July 7 suicide attack on the Indian mission, which killed around 60 people.
“It’s rubbish. We totally deny it,” Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Sadiq said.
“This is a baseless allegation that the New York Times keeps on recycling using anonymous sources. These stories always die afterwards because there is no proof,” Mr Sadiq said, speaking from a regional summit in Colombo.
Pakistan’s military spokesman Maj-Gen Athar Abbas said the report was “malicious propaganda”.
“It is meant to defame ISI,” Mr Abbas told AFP. “This is a national institution which is vital for security. The ISI’s role in fighting terrorism and extremism is exceptional.”
The Times and Wall Street Journal reported that US officials believed the embassy attack was conducted by forces loyal to Afghan militant Jalaluddin Haqqani, who is tied to Al Qaeda and based in Pakistan’s tribal belt.
The Times did not specify what assistance ISI allegedly provided to Haqqani but said that intelligence officials involved appeared to be acting on orders from above.
“The Indians are absolutely convinced it’s true, and they’re right,” an unnamed US official told the Wall Street Journal.
The Times said intercepts had provided “the clearest evidence to date that Pakistani intelligence officers are actively undermining American efforts to combat militants in the region.”
The new intelligence “confirmed some suspicions that I think were widely held,” one State Department official told the Times of the intercepted communications.
“It was sort of this ‘aha’ moment. There was a sense that there was finally direct proof.”
‘US losing trust in Pakistan intelligence’
http://thepost.com.pk/MainNewsT.aspx?bdtl_id=11987&fb_id=2&catid=14
Online
ISLAMABAD: US military, for the past four months, has routinely withheld advanced information from Pakistani authorities on attacks carried out in Pakistan’s border region targeting al-Qaeda and Taliban suspects, for fear the information could be leaked to militants, according to a high-level European defence official in Islamabad. The official told CBS News’ the Bush administration is demanding a comprehensive revamp of Pakistan’s powerful counter-espionage agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), before Washington will resume full intelligence cooperation with Pakistan. In the latest secret operation, Midhat Mursi al-Sayid Umar, also known as Abu Khabab al-Masri - a leading Qaeda chemical and biological weapons expert, was killed in a US missile strike early Monday morning at a remote location in Waziristan region.
“Information of this attack was shared very late with Pakistan. This was a case where the US did not want to alert the Pakistanis in advance because of concerns over information leaks,” said the European official, whose country has contributed troops to the NATO coalition force in Afghanistan. He spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the information.
The revelation on the Bush administration’s toughening stance on its long-time ally in the war against extremists came as Pakistani officials angrily denied a newspaper report that its intelligence service helped plan a bombing of India’s embassy in Kabul that killed at least 41 people.
The New York Times reported for Friday’s editions that American intelligence agencies had concluded that members of the ISI were involved in the July 7 attack in the Afghan capital.
A senior Pakistani official, who also spoke to CBS news on condition of anonymity, said the US military campaign in Afghanistan was failing, the militants were gaining ground. “The US and others are just pointing fingers towards others.”
Western diplomats based in Islamabad told CBS News last week that the cross-border tension presents a major dilemma for US policymakers, as the Bush administration tries to get the two countries to cooperate in the war on terror.
I don’t think the ISI helps themselves with promoting the story of Zawahiri’s death...
Analysis: Reports of Zawahiri’s death are based on suspect sources
**********************EXCERPT INTRO*******************
As Western and Pakistani intelligence sort through the fallout from the July 28 airstrike in South Waziristan, Pakistan, rumors are swirling that Ayman al Zawahiri, al Qaeda's second in command, was either killed or seriously wounded in the attack.
All of these rumors have been based on Pakistani intelligence sources, which makes the allegations suspect. Without confirmation from the US military or intelligence, the reports from Pakistan should be viewed with deep skepticism.
Amen to that comment....see above on what may be their latest activity....
If this is a serious source he/she/it better have a name. I'm tapped out on this “anonymous” crap.
I don't think they helped their cause, either. They need to keep their mouths SHUT until they have the story verified—and I'm talking identifiable pictures of bodies or parts of bodies!
It has been an open secret that the ISI is a terrorist supporting bunch of Islamofacists, themselves, but do you think it's helpful for CBS, et al, to be screaming this info from the mountaintop? Will it make the Pakis more cooperative? IMHO, I don't think it will. It is also no secret that many in the ISI prefer the “friendship” of China to that of the U.S., anyway, so this could be counterproductive in a rather large way.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.