A general who has commanded troops both along the Afghan border and in the chaotic streets of Karachi was named to run Pakistan’s powerful main intelligence agency as the nation tries to quell the domestic threat of Islamic militants while managing its relationship with India.
Major General Rizwan Akhtar was appointed director general of Inter Services Intelligence, Pakistan’s army said on its website today. Akhtar has been promoted to the rank of lieutenant general and will take charge of the ISI from Nov. 8, succeeding Lieutenant General Zaheer ul Islam.
The choice is likely to “greatly reduce tensions and bring about greater harmony between the intelligence agency and the government because he was approved by the army chief and prime minister,” Talat Masood, a retired lieutenant general, said by phone. The spy chief is recommended by the army and appointed by the prime minister, according to government policy.
The appointment comes as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is facing his biggest political test in 16 months in office as opposition leader Imran Khan and Tahir-ul-Qadri, a cleric, lead protests against alleged vote rigging during the 2013 general elections. Thousands of demonstrators have staged a sit-in outside the parliament house in Islamabad since mid-August.
Akhtar, a graduate of the Command and Staff College in the western city of Quetta and the Islamabad-based National Defence University, was commissioned in the army in September 1982 in the frontier force regiment, according to today’s statement. He has commanded an infantry brigade and division in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan and also led the Pakistan Rangers (Sindh), a paramilitary force in the southern province.
“He’s a very straight person, intelligent, understands complexities relatively quickly,” Zarin Khan Khattak, a retired army officer, said by phone. “He served both in the tribal region and Karachi, so I think that’s going to benefit him in many ways. He did not succumb to pressure while serving in Karachi, so that shows his mettle.”
The Pakistani Taliban and other militant organizations now operate in Karachi, having spread beyond their main bases in the tribal areas along the Afghan border.
Six major generals, including Akhtar, were promoted today to the rank of lieutenant general, according to the military’s statement.
Outgoing ISI chief Islam was appointed in March 2012, when General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani was the army chief and Yousuf Raza Gilani was the country’s prime minister.
To contact the reporters on this story: Khurrum Anis in Karachi at kkhan14@bloomberg.net; Naween A. Mangi in Karachi at nmangi1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Daniel Ten Kate at dtenkate@bloomberg.net Naween A. Mangi, Dick Schumacher
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