The decision to put Pakistan's main spy agency under civilian control was aimed at keeping the army out of the diplomatic line of fire, the head of the ruling party said in remarks published on Sunday. Pakistan Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Saturday put the Inter Services Intelligence Agency (ISI) under control of the Interior Ministry on Saturday before flying off to Washington for talks with President George W. Bush. Critics say the ISI played a major role in the creation of the Islamist Taleban movement, which took control of Afghanistan in the 1990s and harbored Al-Qaeda until it was forced from power by US-led forces in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks. Neighboring India and Afghanistan have often blamed the ISI for masterminding acts of terrorism in their countries. The decision by the coalition government, formed after February elections and led by the party of slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, is seen as asserting civilian authority over the intelligence network of a country that has been under military rule for half of its 60 years of independence. Asif Ali Zardari, Bhutto's widower and leader of her Pakistan People's Party, hoped the “historical” decision would yield positive results for the country as well as the army. “In future, enemies of Pakistan will not be able to defame the ISI; nobody will say that this agency is not under the control of an elected government,” the daily News quoted him as saying in a telephone interview from Dubai. “The interior ministry will be responsible for responding to allegations against the ISI.” Pakistan officially dropped support for the Taleban and joined the US-led campaign against terrorism after the Sept. 11 attacks organized by Osama Bin Laden, a guest of the Taleban. Last month, Pakistan denied accusations by Afghan authorities that the ISI was behind an attempt by Taleban militants to kill Afghan President Hamid Karzai in April. It also denied charges by Afghan and Indian officials that the ISI was involved in this month's suicide attack outside Indian embassy in Kabul that killed 58 people, including two senior Indian diplomats. Zardari's opponents dubbed the decision an attempt to politicise the ISI and hoped it would be reversed soon. “It's an absolutely wrong decision from every prospective,” said Mushahid Hussain Sayed, secretary general of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League. “Instead of taking ISI out of politics, the government has injected partisan politics in ISI,” he said. “It will be detrimental to national security.” The government announcement came hours after Gilani embarked on his first official visit to the United States. Gilani is due to meet US President George W. Bush for talks that are expected to focus sharply on a growing insurgency along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, where Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden is thought to be hiding.
