ISLAMABAD: Federal Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said the issue of appointment of new chief of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) would be resolved within a week.
Interior Minister, however, gave no reason for delay in the appointment of DG ISI.
Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, however, said the appointment of new ISI chief was a routine matter and both the civil and military leadership have developed understanding on the issue.
Talking in a private TV show, Sheikh Rashid also said the issue had been settled between the civil and military leadership of the country and now the appointment of ISI chief will be announced before next Friday.
Asked what were the reasons behind the delay, the interior minister said he knew the reasons but could not make them public as only Prime Minister Imran Khan could apprise people on the matter.
Responding to a question, he rejected an impression that the delay was being made by the Prime Minister House due to some spiritual reasons. It is totally absurd that the issue is being delayed intentionally due to divine intervention. It is illogical that someone is casting a spell, he added.
Sheikh Rashid said there were no differences between the civil and military leadership in the country and both sides were satisfied over what they had decided. He claimed that nobody in the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) parliamentary committee meeting, presided over by the prime minister on Thursday, had taken the name of incumbent ISI chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed.
The minister also ruled out media reports and a statement by PTI chief whip in the National Assembly Amir Dogar that PM Khan wanted Lt Gen Faiz to stay in his office for some more time due to the critical situation in neighbouring Afghanistan.
He said the country’s spy agencies had defeated 42 intelligence agencies of various countries in Afghanistan. “They [military authorities] will not retreat from their own procedure,” he added.
Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said the issue of appointment of new ISI director general would be resolved in a couple of days. However, he was reluctant to further comment on the matter, saying: “There was no significant development on the issue today (Friday).”
According to the Inter-Services Public Relations, the army chief has recently reshuffled the top military hierarchy, transferring ISI Director General Lt Gen Faiz Hameed to the post of Corps Commander Peshawar, and appointing Corps Commander Karachi Lt Gen Nadeen Ahmed Anjum as new ISI chief.
However, an impasse developed on the issue between the civil and military leadership as the prime minister was reportedly reluctant to appoint new ISI chief “against the law and constitutional norms”.
