A timely tip-off by Indian intelligence agency RAW helped foil a third assassination plot against Pakistanâs President General Pervez Musharraf. This collaboration and the two attempts on his life on December 14 and 24 last year, have led to a change in the mindset of President Musharraf: from reluctant and sometimes wavering support for anti-terrorism operations, to a new-found resolve to stamp out the threat.
| I wouldn't count too heavily on that. His attention span's not very long... |
In January, when Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was leaving Islamabad after the SAARC summit, he called President Musharraf and said, "Please take care." The intelligence agencies clearly picked up the cue and their leadersâ concern. In the first week of February, RAW came upon communication intercepts between jehadis opposed to President Musharraf, planning to make a third attempt on the generalâs life. The intercepts were passed on by RAW chief C D Sahay to his ISI counterpart Ehsanul Haq, enabling the latter to foil the plot.
The tip-off was only the latest, but perhaps most significant exchange of intelligence between the two agencies over the past four months. Defence ministry officials told TOI on Tuesday that India is convinced that President Musharrafâs current crackdown on al-Qaeda is for real. "We do not expect any backtracking on this," said a source. This confidence is grounded in the ministryâs assessment that the Pakistan military, which had nurtured the militants since the time of General Ziaul Haq, were united behind President Musharraf. "Even the ISI, a creation of the Pakistan Army, is going along with the military," he said, "There will only be forward movement on the anti-terrorism agenda."
| Right. I think my hair's growing back, too. In fact, I'm sure it is. |
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