hocking as the recent news of busting of multiple networks of foreign intelligence moles operating within the country’s most sensitive departments are, they are reassuring in equal measure: “We know for certain our counterintelligence machine is working.”
In the two cases that came to light over the last couple of months, the moles siphoning off sensitive information were caught because of their frequent meetings with the diplomats and for their extravagant lifestyles. Some of them are highly qualified and have impressive profiles and family histories.
An espionage network recently unearthed working in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defence Production was monitoring China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and defence procurements.
In June, a deputy director working on the Chinese Desk at the ministry of foreign affairs was caught spying for Russian intelligence. The official, Syed Qalb-e-Abbas, is a BS-18 officer of the Ministry of Planning and Development and was working in the Foreign Ministry on deputation.
He started his career as Research Officer in the now devolved Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock in early 2000. He later became section officer in the Economic Affairs Division and was associated with the section that deals with the United Nations and Foreign Training. Since September 2018, he was working as Deputy Director China Division.
Another ring of informants found working for a European intelligence agency has at least 20 members. Counterintelligence sleuths have been able to nail nine of them so far, two of whom have applied for bail after arrest.
The court record shows that the accused serving and retired officials of the Ministry of Defence Production and private contractors dealing with the defence related purchases were involved in stealing secret information and sharing this with the agent of a foreign intelligence agency.
The accused arrested so far in this case are Safdar Rehman, Tafzeelur Rehman, Mohammad Waqar, Mohammad Ashfaq, Mohammad Tahir, Mujtaba Hussain, Mohammad Ashraf, retired Lt-Col Irfan Hameed Kiani, and Ahmed Kiani.
Col Kiani, who was compulsory retired from the in 1993, entered into the defence indenting business. He represented various companies from Turkey, China, Brazil, and Russia in Pakistan.
The Kianis’ company, The Core Group, has been involved with several defence and energy sector projects. It claims representation of various manufacturers in Asia, Europe, and Americas in brands, commodities, technology and infrastructure.
The Kianis comes from an illustrious family of soldiers. Col Kiani’s father Major General Hameed Asghar Kiani honourably served Pakistan Army and fought the 1965 and 1971 wars, and his grandfather Raja Gulab Khan was a decorated member of the British Indian Army. His father-in-law Major General Khudadad Khan was also a highly decorated officer in the Pak Army.
Col Kiani was the first Pakistani national to be awarded the prestigious “National Do Cruezeiro Do Sul” by the Brazilian Government in the year 2015. Among other laureates of the award have been Queen Elizabeth and some US Presidents.
Ahmed Kiani has and MPhil. from the University of London and a PhD from University of Cambridge. He is a director of the family owned company Core Corporation.
As per the allegations, Col Kiani and his son Ahmed Kiani have been receiving secret/confidential documents from the accused Safdar in order to provide the same to foreign intelligence agents.
The FIA recovered confidential documents related to defence purchases and defence production from their custody as well. Moreover, the electronic devices/gadgets were also recovered from their possession and have been sent for forensic analysis.
Col Kiani and Ahmed Kiani, both held at Rawalpindi Central Jail, Adiala, applied for bail before the IHC.
In response to their petition, the additional attorney general Qasim Wadud appeared on behalf of federal government. He filed an application that stated that the federal government intends to place some highly sensitive information on judicial record and requested the court for in-camera session to hear the stance of the government.
While it is reassuring to see these moles in our midst caught, this is no occasion for complacence. The only thing we can be certain of is that these were not the last of foreign intel assets embedded in our institutions. The authorities must redouble their efforts to smoke out all the rats gnawing at the very fabric of our state.
Equally important, we must suss out the circumstances that led these persons to work against the interests of their own nation. After all, most of the people accused in these cases were in the service of Pakistan and almost all had respectable and comfortable lives.
While some of them may have been motivated by their sheer greed, others may have been trapped by their foreign handlers. Did the lax morals of some of them led them to be filmed in compromising positions, opening them up to blackmail? Were some honey-trapped?
We must suss out the precise circumstances of each case and draw lessons to harden our bureaucracy against penetration by foreign intelligence services.
