Though Pakistan and US appear to be in sync over the hunt for Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders, lack of cooperation at the operational and tactical levels by the Pakistani army and intelligence is proving a major stumbling block. In fact, Indian and US intelligence and investigation agencies increasingly believe General Pervez Musharraf is no longer in absolute command of his army and the all-powerful ISI.
The recent bulldozing of all tender norms by his chief of general staff, Lt-Gen Tariq Majeed â who is next in command after Musharraf âs vice-chief Gen Ahsan Saleem Hayat and is due to retire in December 2007 â is a case in point. In June 2005, Majeed ordered 900 sub-standard G-2 night-vision devices fitted with thermal image sights for the armyâs main battle tanks from French firm Thales. These were overpriced by an extra $37 million and flouted all technical qualifications. When Majeedâs attempts to procure the night-vision devices were foiled at the last moment, mainly due to fierce opposition from his juniors, he ordered the immediate procurement of five LUNA unmanned spy planes from German company EMT at a price exceeding $27 million. The order, placed late last month, came despite objections in Islamabadâs military intelligence circles over their inadequate electronic counter-measures.
All this took place without Musharraf âs knowledge, demonstrating his lack of control over his immediate juniors and the decision-makers in the Pakistan army. CIA director Porter Goss, who believes Laden is still in Pakistan, has recently gone on record as saying certain âweak linksâ â namely Pakistan â need to be strengthened if the manhunt for the al-Qaeda leader has to culminate in his capture. His comments are echoed by US intelligence and defence officials now active in Pakistan.
Highly-placed sources say while some key al-Qaeda operatives have been picked up by the Pakistani security agencies, its top Arab leaders are still at large. Those arrested included Abu Zubaydah, Ramzi bin-al-Shibh, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Naeem Noor Khan, Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani and Abu Farj-al-Libi. The question being raised in informed circles is how some top Arab al-Qaeda leaders are still evading arrest despite the scale of the manhunt. This, they say, is not possible unless they are being provided protection by a powerful section in the security and intelligence agencies. |