Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani Friday appointed Lt. General Zaheer-ul-Islam as the new chief of the country’s major intelligence agency, the Prime Minister office said. Lt. Gen. Ahmad Shuja Pasha, the incumbent chief of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) will retire on March 18. “Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani has appointed Lt. General Zaheer ul Islam, Corps Commander Karachi, as new Director General Inter Services Intelligence (ISI),” a brief statement from the PM office said. The statement did not give any more details. Lt Gen. Zaheer-ul-Islam has earlier served as the deputy director general of the ISI as a major general. He was then promoted to the rank of lieutenant general and moved to Karachi. He is said to be a disciplined and focused officer. Consultations had been ongoing between the prime minister, president and the army chief. Sources said that the prime minister had told his cabinet ministers and advisers that they will announce the decision today. Lt Gen. Pasha, who retires on March 18 after having served a one-year extension in tenure granted to him in March 2011, had requested the army chief in December to relieve him of his duties as the ISI chief. Pasha served as the DG of the ISI when al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was found and killed in Abbottabad in May 2011 in an American military operation.
