Telegraph - Intelligence team defied Musharraf to help Taliban By Ahmed Rashid in Islamabad (Filed: 10/10/2001)

A SMALL group of officers from Pakistan's intelligence services visited Kandahar without permission from the government at the end of last month, reportedly to help the Taliban prepare their defences and a strategy against US attacks, according to retired military officers.

The visit, by three and possibly five serving and retired mid-level officers of the Interservices Intelligence (ISI) was in defiance of orders by Pakistan's President and Chief of the Army Staff, Gen Pervez Musharraf, who on Monday replaced the ISI chief Lt Gen Mahmood Ahmad.

Gen Musharraf had ordered Pakistani diplomats and ISI officers to leave Afghanistan a few days after the attacks on America. Gen Musharraf then rapidly switched Pakistan's policy of support to the Taliban and swung behind the US led alliance, saying it was in Pakistan's national interest to do so.

Senior retired army officers said Gen Musharraf was infuriated when he was informed of the officers' trip because it could have jeopardised Pakistan's relations with the US and Britain.

There is no suggestion that Lt Gen Ahmad knew about the trip either. Nevertheless he resigned as ISI chief. Until the September 11 attacks, the ISI was the main conduit for Pakistani military support and fuel supplies to the Taliban.

ISI officers have served as military advisers to the Taliban army especially during their summer offensives against the anti-Taliban alliance. Several ISI officers have become intensely loyal to the Taliban and their hard line Islamic ideology.

It is not known what has happened to the officers who visited Kandahar, but military sources said that the new ISI chief Lt Gen Ehansul Haq will carry out a reshuffle of the ISI and he will replace officers who ran the Taliban.

Lt Gen Haq, the former head of the army's military intelligence is a popular and highly respected officer, both in military and political circles for his moderate views and his desire to return the country to democracy.

He is also a Pathan from the North West Frontier province and is expected to play a behind-the-scenes role in helping cool the anti-American and pro-Taliban leaders in Pakistan, who have led anti-government protests and have called for a jihad against the US. Many of these religious leaders are also Pathans from the frontier province.

Gen Musharraf's reshuffle of the top echelon of the army's command structure has been widely welcomed by the media and politicians. It strengthens his power base within the army and allows him greater flexibility to deal with the political crisis, created by the US bombing of Afghanistan.

The reshuffle has also impressed Western ambassadors in Islamabad, who now believe that there will be no problems in intelligence sharing between Western intelligence agencies and the ISI - a key demand of the Western alliance.

Although Islamabad has said that it will not allow US troops to use Pakistani soil for any ground attack in Afghanistan, the reshuffle will allow Gen Musharraf to be more flexible to further demands by the Western alliance.

-- Anonymous, October 10, 2001