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Musharraf elevates ISI chief to top post
Consolidating his hold on the military, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on Saturday appointed chief of the country's powerful spy agency ISI General Ahsanul Haq as chairman of the joint chiefs of military staff after promoting him to the rank of four-star general. He also promoted Karachi corps commander Ahsan Saleem Hayat, who escaped an assassination attempt by militants in June, and appointed him as vice chief of army. While General Haq will be replacing General Muhammad Aziz Khan, General Hayat will be taking over from General Yousaf Khan, who is also retiring. The appointments by Musharraf, who has given strong and open hints in the recent weeks to continue in uniform, were seen as key to retain his hold on the army if he were to continue as president and chief of army till 2007.The appointments were seen as a first phase of a major exercise of reshuffle of top commanders by Musharraf to prepare the army for a 'paradigm shift' in thinking and orientation to fit into the modern, progressive and welfare Islamic state he envisaged. A major reshuffle of corps commanders was expected to follow in the coming days. Significantly, Musharraf has recently said he would await the retirement of the Gen Aziz and Gen Yousaf before announcing his decision whether to continue as chief of army or not. The retirement of Gen Aziz without extension was seen as significant as he had played a key role as corps commander in the 1999 Kargil conflict, which ended up in a major debacle for Pakistan. Hailing from Pakistan occupied Kashmir (POK), Gen Aziz was known for his strong views against India. Both the retiring generals were appointed by Musharraf to their posts hours before the US military action in Afghanistan, weeks after the 9/11 attacks in 2001, which prompted Pakistan to reverse its pro-Taliban policy. The two superceded the then ISI Chief Gen Mahmood and Deputy Chief of Army Staff Gen Usmani, considered as pro-Taliban Generals, who resigned in protest. Haq has superseded at least seven Lt Generals, while Gen Hayat is listed as number four in the army's seniority hierarchy. The superseded generals whose retirement was almost due was expected to quit to pave the way for a major reshuffle in the top echelons of the army. Pakistan's 500,000 strong army has around 12 Lt Generals, eight of which were listed as corps commanders, heading some of important divisions of the army. Posted by: Paul Moloney 2004-10-03 |
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