CIA informants? A few suggestions as to who Pakistan’s ISI might want to arrest
Pakistan rounded up five informants who provided information to the C.I.A. that helped lead to the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, according to the New York Times. The arrests, which reportedly include a Pakistani Army major who copied the license plates of cars visiting the compound, highlight once again how strained ...
Pakistan rounded up five informants who provided information to the C.I.A. that helped lead to the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, according to the New York Times. The arrests, which reportedly include a Pakistani Army major who copied the license plates of cars visiting the compound, highlight once again how strained the relationship is between Washington and Islamabad. As Pakistan’s powerful Inter-Service Intelligence directorate (ISI) was able to uncover and arrest the alleged C.I.A. informants very soon after the killing, one might wonder what they could do if they put as much energy into locating some of the world’s other most wanted people believed to be hiding out in the country.
Here are a few bad guys who remain at large.
Sajid Mir
The man believed to be behind the Mumbai terrorist attacks in 2008 is a shadowy figure with ties to militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba and reportedly to the ISI, though they deny it. He directed the Mumbai operation as it was happening and can be heard on recorded phone conversations instructing the terrorists on the ground where to go, whom to kill, and when to go out in a storm of bullets. He also recruited the American David Headley to act as a scout for the group.
Ayman al-Zawahiri
Bin Laden’s longtime deputy, the Egyptian-born doctor is one of America’s prime targets in Pakistan. Since bin Laden’s death, the United States has upped the pressure on the Pakistani government, military and ISI to provide more information on his whereabouts, according to reports.
Siraj Haqqani
The current leader of the powerful Haqqani network sends weapons, recruits, and supplies to attack U.S. forces in Afghanistan. The group is closely allied to the Taliban. Some analysts say it works as a proxy force used by the ISI, elements of which are accused of providing financial and operational support for their attacks in Afghanistan.
‘Major Iqbal’
Perhaps the most mysterious fugitive in Pakistan, Iqbal is an officer in the ISI who helped plan the 2008 Mumbai attacks, according to testimony from David Headley, who claimed that he provided money and helped choose targets. He’s named as Headley’s ISI handler in a Justice Department indictment. But very little is known about him–including his real identity and how high up in the ISI he was.
Dawood Ibrahim
In 2009, Forbes Magazine named. Ibrahim the 50th most powerful person in the world. The head of the Mumbai-based crime syndicate D-Company, he is also India’s most wanted man, believed to be involved in everything from drug and weapons trafficking to terrorism (he’s suspected of organizing attacks in Bombay in 1993 that killed 257 people and the U.S. says he has links to al Qaeda). He’s reportedly hiding out in Pakistan, using plastic surgery to help avoid detection–as well as his connections in the ISI.
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