Pakistan spy chief goes to Saudi Arabia

September 26th, 2011 - 8:11 pm ICT by IANS  

Islamabad, Sep 26 (IANS) Pakistan’s spy agency chief Lt Gen Shuja Pasha left for Saudi Arabia Monday as Islamabad-Washington ties became strained over an accusation that ISI supported the Al-Qaeda-linked Haqqani network.

Top military commanders met Sunday to propose the visit to Saudi Arabia by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief to brief Saudi leaders on the Pakistan-US tension, Xinhua cited media reports as stating.

Pakistan is likely to send envoys to other friendly countries in view of the tension with the US, sources said.

US military commanders have accused Pakistan’s spy agency ISI of supporting the Haqqani network for carrying out two attacks on the US embassy in Kabul and the US military base in Afghanistan’s Wadak province this month.

Apart from diplomatic efforts, the government has also stepped up consultations with political leaders to seek their support.

The chairman of US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen Sep 22 called the Haqqani network a “veritable arm” of ISI, a charge denied by Pakistan.

US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta threatened to take unilateral action against the Haqqani network inside Pakistan if the authorities there failed to do so.

Related Stories

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted in South Asia |

Subscribe