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Former intelligence chief seen as threat to Musharraf government

GEOSTRATEGY-DIRECT.COM
Wednesday, October 10, 2001

    When retired Gen Hamid Gul, speaks, many of Pakistan's religious leaders and younger military officers pay close attention.

Gen. Hamid Gul
Former Pakistan ISI intelligence chief, retired General Hamid Gul, addresses students of a Dar-ul-Alumi-Islami, islamic religious school during a graduation ceremony in Peshawar, Pakistan, on Sept. 30, 2001..

    The former Pakistan ISI intelligence chief is regarded by Western intelligence sources as a threat to Pakistan President Musharraf given his ties to younger officers with pro-Taliban sentiments and his still vital political ambitions.
    Gul's views on the Sept. 11 attacks on America, regarded as controversial in the West, are taken seriously in the Muslim world.
    U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell is visiting Pakistan this week to steady the Musharraf government which has been buffeted by pro-Taliban demonstrations. Of concern to the Bush administration is the possibility that the toppling of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan could trigger an upheaval in neighboring Pakistan, turning over control of the country's nuclear weapons to a pro-Taliban government.
    President Musharraf has moved decisively to back the U.S. war on terrorism. He has conducted a purge of his top security and military officers and has provided frequent assurances to the West that Pakistan's nuclear weapons are secure.
    In addition, to stave off Muslim opposition to PakistanÕs support for U.S. and British attacks in Afghanistan, his government is sending large amounts of cash to key Muslim clerics to buy their loyalty to his government. The subsidies are said by U.S. intelligence agencies to have been successful in preventing real opposition to Pakistan's pro-U.S. stance.
    U.S. intelligence agencies also said that the anti-U.S. demonstrations in Pakistan are smaller and have less political impact than many Western press accounts indicate and that MusharrafÕs security forces have them under control.
    Still, U.S. intelligence agencies do not rule out the possibility that the ongoing military operations in Afghanistan could lead to a change of government in Pakistan.

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