Pakistani military moves to purge al Qaeda backers

Pakistan has been quietly trying to purge al Qaeda supporters from its armed forces since December, when Osama bin Laden’s network made two attempts to kill President Pervez Musharraf, according to Pakistani and U.S. officials.

Defense sources in Pakistan say military intelligence is studying the files of all officers in the rank of colonel or above to determine whether they ever associated with radical religious groups. Those uncovered are being quietly shown the door, the sources say.

They add that Gen. Musharraf intends to “cleanse” the army before this December, when he must retire from the military and plans to become a civilian president. He is also said to be consulting lawyers to determine whether he can remain in the army despite signing an agreement with opposition parties to retire before Dec. 31.

The sources say several senior generals from the era of Gen. Mohammed Zia ul-Haq — who seized power after a military coup in the late 1970s and died in 1988 — are expected to retire by March of next year, which would make it easier for Gen. Musharraf to liberalize the armed forces.

Gen. Musharraf also is taking steps to reform his military spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Western diplomatic sources in Islamabad told UPI that, on Washington’s advice, Gen. Musharraf has made a major change in ISI rules. Previously, some officers were allowed to stay for years in the intelligence organization, where in the course of their work they developed links to various political and religious groups.

Under the new arrangement, no officer will be allowed to stay in ISI for more than three years and there will be no second tours of duty with military intelligence.

U.S. officials have long suspected that al Qaeda and other Muslim extremists penetrated Pakistan’s military during the latter’s long involvement in Afghanistan, which began with the Soviet invasion in 1979 and ended after the terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001.

But officials in Pakistan denied the penetration until last week, when Gen. Musharraf acknowledged in an interview with a Pakistani television station that al Qaeda not only infiltrated Pakistan’s military but also recruited volunteers to assassinate him.

Gen. Musharraf survived two attempts late last year — the first on Dec. 15 and the second on Dec. 25. Fifteen persons, including several of his guards, were killed in the second attack, which came on the birth date of Mohammed Ali Jinnah (1876-1948), the founder of Pakistan and main force behind India’s partition in 1947 after independence from Britain.

In the TV interview, Gen. Musharraf also revealed that authorities had arrested several junior military officers for helping al Qaeda carry out the two attacks.

With 520,000 troops, Pakistan’s army is slightly larger than that of the United States — not counting the Army Reserve and National Guard — and continues to be the strongest force in Pakistan. It has ruled the country for more than half the years since 1947, and even when not in power, the army continues to have a major influence on national policies.

The religious influence in the army began under Gen. Zia, according to Lt. Gen. Javed Ashraf Qazi, a former head of ISI.

Gen. Zia ruled Pakistan during most of the Afghan war, which lasted from 1979 to 1989. He died in a plane crash in August 1988.

“Zia ul-Haq allowed religious organizations to preach in the army. Soldiers and officers were allowed to attend religious gatherings,” said Gen. Qazi.

Before Gen. Zia, the army observed rules left by the British, who strictly discouraged religious influence in the armed forces. One of the groups Gen. Zia allowed to preach to the army is Tableeghi Jamaat — the Party of Islamic Preachers.

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