United States has given an ultimatum to ISI Chief

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Publication: http://intelligenceonline.net
Date: May 7, 2003

The United States has given an ultimatum to Pakistan to terminate cross-border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir within a month or forty-five days or be ready for drastic action. The visiting ISI chief, Lieutenant-General Ehsan ul-Haq, was told by the CIA top brass and officials of the State Department and National Security Council that they were unhappy with his steps to curb the terrorist activities of the Inter-Services Intelligence. Top diplomats said that Haq enraged a second meeting with State Department, CIA and NSC officials and representatives from six US think-tanks when he brought up India's role in Jammu and Kashmir, with some American officials remarking that he was wasting their time. The atmosphere in the meeting became hostile when Haq claimed several of the terrorist groups operating in J&K were independent of the ISI, with US officials producing proof of communication intercepts between ISI stations on the LoC and terrorist groups before and after specific actions. At one point, certain US officials walked out, forcing Haq to extend his stay to pacify them. In further meetings, Haq was given one month to purge the ISI of terrorist elements, while he sought more time, saying the huge middle section of the intelligence agency had grown to operate independently and would need tremendous efforts to be bridled. The US has subsequently warned Haq to clean up ISI or face the axe.
 

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