Pakistani diplomat quietly withdrawn amid allegations of ISI plot
against US and Israeli consulates, by M. Saleem Butt
When it comes to
Pakistan-India relations, extraordinary tales of intrigue and spy games are the
norm. A few years ago, India even arrested a bird on suspicion of spying for Pakistan.
But if fanciful tales are common, it is because just beyond them lies the true
stories of espionage and counter-espionage that each country takes very
seriously. These true stories are easy to separate from the fantasies when
enough details come to light to make the case undeniable.
This appears to be
the situation with the latest allegations faced by Pakistani diplomat Amir
Zubair Siddiqui. A Visa Counselor at the High Commission of Pakistan in
Colombo, Sri Lanka, Siddiqui has been quietly withdrawn from his post following
allegations that he was involved in planning attacks against US and Israeli consulates in
Chennai and Bangalore.
It should be noted
that this is not the first time that an alleged Pakistani spy has been arrested
from Colombo. In 2012, Thameem Ansari was picked up on charges of working as an ISI operative.
Thameem Ansari, a
native of Thanjavur, was arrested during an IB-Q branch joint operation while
he was on his way to Tiruchy airport carrying a digital dossier on south Indian
defence installations in the third week of September. He was scheduled to catch
a flight to Colombo the day he was arrested.
And who was named as Thameem Ansari’s
ISI handler in that case? None other than Amir Zubair Siddiqui himself who was
named in the FIR against Ansari. Siddiqui was quietly withdrawn from the
Consulate, only to be quietly returned a year later.
Indian authorities
were tipped off about Siddiqui’s activities by Malaysian
intelligence. Under interrogation, Sri Lankan national Sakir Hussain
reportedly told interrogators that he had been recruited by an official in Pakistani high
commission in Colombo.
During interrogation, Hussain
reportedly took the name of Amir Zubair Siddiq, who is counsellor (visa) at
Pakistan high commission in Colombo, as his alleged handler and also said he
had been chosen as he was engaged in human trafficking, making of forged
passports and smuggling of fake Indian currency.
The sleuths recovered pictures of US
and Israeli consulates showing various gates and roads leading to the two
premises, the sources said, and claimed that these pictures had been mailed to
his alleged handlers in Pakistan and its high commission in Colombo.
Cyber signatures showed that the
pictures were downloaded at a computer within the premises of Pakistan high
commission at Colombo and the same had been shared with Sri Lankan authorities,
the sources claimed. Muhammad Daud Ehtisham, press attache, High Commission of
Pakistan in Sri Lanka, has dismissed as speculative in nature the charge of
ISI’s alleged involvement in any attack plans.
Why did Malaysia
tip off Indian authorities? Perhaps because this time the allegations include
claims that the ISI is recruiting Muslims from other countries to carry out
attacks in order to maintain ‘plausible deniability’ about Pakistani
involvement in terrorist attacks agains the US. Malaysian Home Minister Datuk
Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has recently stressed the importance of stopping domestic and international
terrorism which is seen as a threat to Malaysian national
security.
Pakistan Foreign
Office has issued a blanket denial and accused India of a conspiracy to slander
Pakistan. If the FO statement sounded familiar, that’s because it was. It was
essentially the same response given when Ghulam Nabi Fai was arrested in 2011.
Ghulam Nabi Fai, of course, later admitted to being an ISI operative.
Every country has
spies. That is a fact. When caught, most countries know that it’s not worth
denying – even when the two countries are allies. US admitted to spying on German Chancellor Angela Merkel,
and Israel admitted it spied on the US and accepted full
responsibility.
Facing serious allegations of plotting
attacks against foreign consulates, however, denial is not enough. If the ISI
is plotting attacks against foreign consulates, the implications for Pakistan
are disastrous.
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