Author: Gaurav C. Sawant
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: October 9, 2001
Introduction: General wields the
axe, replaces his trusted men to please the West
At one level, the reshuffle in the
Pakistan military top brass is perplexing. Three people whom President
Pervez Musharraf trusted implicitly are out; two of them had backed his
coup, another was appointed by him soon after. On closer examination, however,
the changes brought about are aimed squarely at presenting a more moderate
and thereby acceptable face to the West.
Of the three, ISI chief Lt Gen Mehmood
Ahmed and Lt Gen Muzzafar Hussain Usmani were superseded and, following
custom, have put in their papers. Lt Gen Mohammad Aziz has been virtually
kicked upstairs.
Ahmed's successor is Lt-Gen Ehsanul
Haq formerly the Peshawar-based 11 Corps Commander and, before that, director-general,
Military Intelligence (DGMI). The Peshawar Corps is considered the primary
support and logistics base for economic and other military aid to the Taliban.
"It is from here that resources are sent to Afghanistan. Though Haq took
charge of the Corps only in May, he has deep knowledge of the Taliban's
strengths and weaknesses," sources here said.
As DGMI, Haq is said to have earned
Musharraf's trust by giving reliable inputs. "Haq could play an effective
role in choking supplies to the Taliban. The main problem that Musharraf
apparently faced with his predecessor was his emotional proximity to the
Taliban and jehadi outfits elsewhere. In fact, we understand he actually
helped the Taliban work on strategies to counter the US air attacks now
taking place", said another official.
Ahmed, a former artillery officer
and close associate of Musharrafs, was Corps commander, Rawalpindi (10
Corps) when Musharraf took over as Chief Executive and played a key role
in that process, eventually being rewarded with the ISI job. It's expected
that he'll now be given a plum governments assignment.
However, he's been superseded by
Lt-Gen Mohammad Aziz, the Lahore based (4 Corps) commander to whom Musharraf
has accorded four-star General rank. (His was the voice on the other end
of the phone, talking to Musharraf - then in China as Army Chief - on the
Kargil Tapes that had severely embarrassed the Pakistan establishment.)
A known hawk and pro-Taliban commander,
Aziz was long deemed Musharraf's successor and, as the senior-most corps
commander, was the next likely army chief. In fact, it was said that Musharraf
would remain chief as long as Aziz desired. But his strong right-wing views
- he's a devout Deobandi and close to the jehadis - would have been unacceptable
to the US. One of the most powerful officers in the army, Aziz has been
effectively neutered by his promotion as chairman of the joint chiefs of
staff committee. It's a ceremonial position, where he will have no control
over the Corps commanders nor will be invited to their crucial conferences.
Also close to Musharraf, and also
suppressed, is Lt Gen Muzzafar Hussain Usmani, deputy chief of army staff.
Usmani - a tabligi (evangelist) who spends much of his time reading Islamic
history - had defied Nawaz Sharif and assisted the landing of Musharraf's
plane at Karachi airport during the coup. He's been superseded by another
'supposedly professional' officer, Lt Gen Mohammad Yusuf, the new vice-chief
of army staff. He is an Armoured Corps officer and will coordinate the
Afghan policy.
"By removing his friends he is trying
to show that he is impartial and barring the post of army chief, promotions
in the army will continue. These hardliners will be rewarded elsewhere
as soon as US aid is received and Pakistan is back on the rails economically,"
sources said.
