US brands ISI a terror group

One of the world’s worst kept secrets is now out in the open. American authorities listed Pakistan’s spy outfit, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Directorate, as a terrorist organization alongside 36 groups including al-Qaida, Hamas, Hezbollah and Iranian intelligence, according to a new set of WikiLeaks cables pertaining to detainees held at the prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The disclosure, which comes soon after the highest ranking US military official Mike Mullen openly accused the ISI of ties with terror outfits like the Haqqani group in Islamabad last week, confirms what has long been the scuttlebutt in the world: Pakistan’s spy agency has earned a terror tag in all but formal designation. According to the cables, US interrogators were told to regard detainees’ links to 36 organizations, including the ISI, as a sign of terror activity. Recently, David Headley and Tahawwur Rana, Pakistani expats who helped scout targets for the 26/11 carnage, admitted they undertook the mission at the behest of the ISI. The US mainstream media largely ignored the revelation, but it was highlighted by the UK newspaper Guardian. “The inclusion of association with the ISI as a ‘threat indicator’ is likely to pour fuel on the flames of Washington’s already strained relationship with its key regional ally,” the paper observed, adding that “a number of the detainee files contain references... to the ISI supporting, coordinating and protecting insurgents fighting coalition forces in Afghanistan, or even assisting al-Qaida.”