By Mazhar Tufail
ISLAMABAD: Former Intelligence Bureau (IB) chief Brig (retd) Imtiaz Ahmed has said that Nawaz Sharif, as prime minister, never gave him any target for the character assassination or persecution of politicians or opponents.
“During my tenure in the IB, only once Mian Nawaz Sharif referred a case to me at the request of Arbab Ghulam Rahim, who met me but I excused and the prime minister did not ask me about that case again,” said Brig (retd) Imtiaz, who has caused a stir in the national politics by making some ‘controversial’ disclosures, in an exclusive talk with this correspondent at his residence here on Tuesday.
Brig (retd) Imtiaz, who has also served in the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), said that some people with vested interest were responsible for creating a communication gap between him and Nawaz. However, he still considers the twice-elected former prime minister a true, patriotic Pakistani.
He claimed that he utilised a minimum amount from the secret funds during his three-year tenure as the IB director. He never gave funds to any politician, he said, adding Masood Sharif, who was additional director IB, had given funds to former minister Muhammad Hanif Khan, Nahid Khan and several others, including opposition MNAs, in 1990.
About his alleged links to President Asif Ali Zardari and Interior Minister Senator Rehman Malik, the former IB director said this was a ridiculous and baseless impression. “As far as Rehman Malik is concerned, he had not only resorted to character assassination against me and my family, but also instituted cases against me during the first tenure of Benazir Bhutto. In revenge, Rehman Malik crossed all the limits. How can I contact such people now? The gulf created between me and the PPP by some people still exists,” he said.
Brig (retd) Imtiaz said he had tendered resignation from the Army in March 1989 because of differences on the basis of principles. Gen Aslam Beg and Lt-Gen Hamid Gul wanted him to withdraw the resignation but, when he expressed his regrets, his resignation was referred to the Ministry of Defence by the GHQ. He claimed that Gen (retd) Naseerullah Babar had put his resignation in cold storage and he was retired from the Army, along with Major (retd) Amir, on the grounds of the operation ‘Midnight Jackal.’
“The impression is completely baseless that my disclosures have weakened the position of the Army and that I have done all this to avenge my removal from the Army. I had decided to join the Army because of my adoration of ‘Khaki’. The record of my 30-year military career will testify as to how much this institution is sacred for me,” the former spymaster said. “As a former intelligence officer, who knows it better than me that the Pakistan Army is guardian of the country’s security and survival?”
The former IB director said that if an act of omission of commission of any officer in his personal capacity becomes topic of discussion because of directly or indirectly linked to the national issues, such debate did not have a negative impact on the credibility of the Army.
He said the way in which the incumbent competent leadership of the Army fought terrorism with courage and steadfastness while staying away from the politics had restored the dignity of the Army in the eyes of public as it was badly damaged during the tenure of Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf. The martyrdom of officers and Jawans has instilled a new spirit in the Army, he remarked.
When asked about former army chief Gen (retd) Aslam Beg, the former senior ISI official said he has now retired from the Army. He said some steps during his tenure as the army chief were in fact taken in the personal capacity and linking those steps with the institution would be wide off the mark. He said the analysis of the steps having direct link with the internal politics of the country is the demand of the national interest and could not have any negative impact on the institution of the Army.
“I did neither work with Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani nor had any contact with him but on the basis of my 15-year experience as intelligence officer I can confidently say that he [Kayani] is a thorough professional. And currently all his attention is focused on galvanising professional capabilities of the Army and welfare of Jawans in particular,” Brig (retd) Imtiaz said in response to a question by The News.
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