M A I N   N E W S

ISI “masterminded” Sept 11 attacks

London, October 8
Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence was aware of the terrorists’ plan to attack the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, according to a senior Pakistani leader Sardar Attaullah Mengal. He is the president of the Baluchistan National Party and now living in exile in London.

Interestingly, a day after Mengal’s comments were aired on television, the ISI chief, General Mahmud Ahmed, was removed from his post by President Pervez Musharraf and succeeded by somebody six months junior in profession. Reportedly, Ahmed has sought premature retirement owing to the supersession.

In an interview with ANI TV in London, Mengal said: “I for one am convinced... The ISI is known for their dirty tricks ...because I had been to that country...I know. They are upto their below in human blood. They care two hoots about what happens. Now, the Americans did not take long to name Osama bin Laden. Pakistan pledged support and at the same time presented the list of requirements. There are the loans, you have to reschedule the loans. Some have even asked to write them off and give more aid. And the Americans were benevolent enough to say ‘yes.’ So the US benevolence and the Pakistani begging bowl are two things which have been going on since day one. So...it has started again. So if you look at it from this angle, it is very difficult to rule out the Pakistani ISI.

It may not be anyone from the ISI who flew the planes into the twin towers. But they must have known what is happening there. If at all Osama bin Laden is involved, Pakistan and ISI cannot be absolved under any condition.”

“Not only were they (ISI) aware,” Mengal emphasised, “they masterminded it. I don’t say the higher-ups in Pakistan government even knew about it. The ISI has been acting independently. Because it’s a trained institution of the CIA. From day one, they have been toppling and installing governments. They were not under any government...they were a government by themselves. ISI is involved...but Musharraf has availed the opportunity and has come out with his begging bowl.”

Talking about the September 11 tragedy — which has led to a US-led assault on Afghanistan — the Pak politician observed that there must have been a reason behind it. According to him, it is the US policy of bulldozing and shooting its way through whichever way it liked after Soviet departure from the scene that led to this kind of reaction, something also born out of helplessness. “They are not able to take on the Americans as a state. So this is the measure they adopted,” he clarified.

Mengal added that “though I will not appreciate what they have done, there are causes for such desperate measures....Those who went in for the suicide attack were at the highest peak of desperation and frustration. Something has caused this frustration. It’s the policy of the Americans towards smaller nations, towards the underdeveloped countries...where they feel helpless and start reacting this way. This the cause that has brought about this scenario.”

Asked about a possible non-Taliban regime in Afghanistan, Mengal replied that he had no clear-cut answer and doubted if the USA had any specific idea either. The superpower has been working haphazardly, he added. But he also wondered how something that does not exist can be overthrown. “The government of Taliban is not a regular government. A few people came around and formed a government. They can individually sit in caves and say they are the government So, they have to be tracked down, arrested and killed. That’s the only way... You can destroy but not topple.”

He said Pakistan had no grudge against Taliban whom it created. And ISI, sole representative of the ruling Punjabi elite, is the organisation which trained and guided it. To the last day, he informed, an ISI brigadier was sitting in Kandahar, instructing the Taliban on what to do and what not to do. Taliban, according to Mengal, includes Osama too and the two had links with Pakistan. Yet the latter promptly deserted its friends and “every one knows that Pakistan is in an economic crisis.”

He further stated that if a civil war breaks out in Pakistan, it will be between the army and the mullahs. “Fortunately we belong to none of them. It will be a game for us to watch with a grieved heart.”

In respect of the Kashmir question, he observed that pressure would build on Pakistan to cease its activities there. “But what I hear, Pakistan wants to switch over its reserves of terrorism from Afghanistan to Kashmir. If this is what Pakistan wants to do, then I think things will go worse. ANI