Ijaz Ahmed Shah: Difference between revisions
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==Career as ISI officer== |
==Career as ISI officer== |
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Shah was the ISI handling officer of the British-born international terrorist [[Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh]], convicted for the murder of ''[[Wall Street Journal]]'' reporter [[Daniel Pearl]] and part of the terrorist group [[Harkat-ul-Mujahideen]] as well as the handling officer for [[Osama Bin Laden]] and [[ |
Shah was the ISI handling officer of the British-born international terrorist [[Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh]], convicted for the murder of ''[[Wall Street Journal]]'' reporter [[Daniel Pearl]] and part of the terrorist group [[Harkat-ul-Mujahideen]] as well as the handling officer for [[Osama Bin Laden]] and Mulla [[Mohammed Omar]]. In 1999, while serving a prison sentence for terrorist offence, Sheikh had been released in exchange for the passengers of the hijacked Indian Airlines flight 814. In February 2002, cornered by Pakistani police under strong American diplomatic pressure, Omar Sheikh turned himself to his close confident Brig. Shah, who then was the Home Secretary of the Pakistani Punjab region: Shah briefed Sheikh for a full week before remanding him to police custody;<ref>John Donnelly, "Probe ID's Pearl abductor," ''Boston Globe'' 7 February 2002; [http://cynical-nerd.nationalinterest.in/?p=20 Reported in "The Cynical Nerd"'s "Indian Nation Interest"], posted 4 May 2006.</ref> this famous "missing week" has never been accounted for in public.he also did working for his friend atif shabbir famous with the name BUNTY, |
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==IB chief== |
==IB chief== |
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Revision as of 20:43, 29 January 2009
Brigadier (retd) Ijaz Shah is the former Director of Intelligence Bureau, and a long-term close associate of Pervez Musharraf, and a former Pakistan Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) official.[1] He resigned as the IB chief on 17 March, 2008. Appointed in 2004, the IB chief became a controversial personality and he was accused of using his department for political victimisation and for undermining the judiciary.[2]
Career as ISI officer
Shah was the ISI handling officer of the British-born international terrorist Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, convicted for the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl and part of the terrorist group Harkat-ul-Mujahideen as well as the handling officer for Osama Bin Laden and Mulla Mohammed Omar. In 1999, while serving a prison sentence for terrorist offence, Sheikh had been released in exchange for the passengers of the hijacked Indian Airlines flight 814. In February 2002, cornered by Pakistani police under strong American diplomatic pressure, Omar Sheikh turned himself to his close confident Brig. Shah, who then was the Home Secretary of the Pakistani Punjab region: Shah briefed Sheikh for a full week before remanding him to police custody;[3] this famous "missing week" has never been accounted for in public.he also did working for his friend atif shabbir famous with the name BUNTY,
IB chief
In 2004, Musharraf's attempt to appoint Ijaz Shah as High Commissioner to Australia was rejected in a highly unusual move by Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs department. Instead Musharraf appointed him to head Pakistani Intelligence Bureau on 25 February 2004, transferring his predecessor, Wali Muhammad to Australia.[4]
Mr Shah agreed to go to Australia as Pakistan’s high commissioner in 2007, but President Musharraf accepted the current high commissioner’s plea for a year’s extension in tenure.[citation needed]
Role in Benazir's Assassination Attempt
Days after the 2007 Karachi bombings, Benazir Bhutto in a letter to President Musharaf written on 16 October, 2007 named Ijaz Shah as one of the four persons including the then chief minister of Punjab Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, the then chief minister of Sindh Arbab Ghulam Rahim, and the former ISI chief Hamid Gul she suspected were behind the attacks.[5]
Notes
- ^ Profile of Saeed Sheikh, under 5 February 2002
- ^ Syed Irfan Raza. 'Intelligence Bureau chief removed' Dawn Newspaper, March 18, 2008
- ^ John Donnelly, "Probe ID's Pearl abductor," Boston Globe 7 February 2002; Reported in "The Cynical Nerd"'s "Indian Nation Interest", posted 4 May 2006.
- ^ "Ijaz Shah new IB chief" Daily Times, 26 February 2004.
- ^ Shakeel, Syed Faisal PPP demands probe based on Benazir’s letter Dawn Newspaper, December 30, 2007