The former director of the powerful Pakistani intelligence agency was stripped of his military pension and associated benefits after publishing a controversial intelligence book with his Indian counterpart.
Lieutenant General Asad Durrani was director general of Pakistan's Military Intelligence Directorate between 1988 and 1989. From 1990 to 1992 he was director of the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, which is arguably the most powerful government institution in the Pakistan. Durrani, 78, has been severely criticized in some Pakistani nationalist circles for co-writing a book called The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and Illusion of Peace, with his Indian counterpart, AS Daulat.
Daulat, 79, headed the research and analysis wing of India from 1999 to 2000. The book, edited by noted Indian journalist Aditya Sinha, contains details on Pakistan's systematic efforts to stir up armed unrest in India's highly Muslim state of. Kashmir, for example by funding and training a number of Islamic paramilitary organizations operating in the disputed region. Furthermore, according to the book, the Pakistani government was aware of Osama bin Laden's whereabouts in 2011 and had worked closely with the United States to kill the co-founder of al-Qaeda.
General Asif Ghafoor, spokesman for the Pakistani army, on Friday announced that a military court has found Durrani guilty of violating the military code of conduct of the Pakistani Armed Forces, thus losing the opportunity to continue receiving his military pension and all associated benefits.
Meanwhile, the Islamabad High Court announced that Durrani's lawyers' request to have his name removed from the Pakistan Exit Checklist which contains the names of people banned from leaving Pakistan for related reasons was rejected. corruption, economic crime, as well as terrorism and drug-related activities.
Durrani had been included in that list last March, shortly after the publication in India of his book.
During the press briefing last Friday, Ghafoor also said that two other Pakistani military officers were placed in custody on espionage charges but did not provide the names of the two officers or countries to which they would provide the information.