Pakistan’s premier spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), had urged Saudi Arabia to stop funding former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for his election campaign, a US diplomatic cable unveiled by whistle-blower website WikiLeaks has revealed.
According to a February 2008 cable, Pakistan’s National Security Adviser Tariq Aziz expressed great concern to the then US Ambassador to Islamabad, Anne Patterson, about a possible Pakistan People’s Party-Nawaz alliance.
“Aziz claimed the Saudis were heavily funding Sharif’s campaign to ensure a PPP defeat and hedge their bets against Musharraf,” said the cable.
The then ISI Director General Nadeem Taj “called the Saudi Ambassador and requested this stop, saying it violated the GOP’s agreement with the Saudis on Nawaz’s return from exile,” it added.
The NSA observed that if the Pakistan Muslim League-N (led by Nawaz Sharif) and the PPP formed a government, “What options would Musharraf have?”
“Aziz, who previously predicted Musharraf’s party would win 66 National Assembly seats, now said he thought the party would not even hold on to the Punjab Provincial Assembly,” the ‘confidential’ document said.
Also on February 15, the Pakistan Election Commission’s Secretary predicted to Ambassador Patterson that Nawaz would do very well in Punjab, said the cable, however adding that “many analysts question whether Nawaz has fielded enough decent candidates to pull past either Musharraf’s party or the PPP.”
“Only the poll numbers can determine whether a PPP-Nawaz alliance is really feasible,” the cable commented.
DG ISI Taj and Aziz also urged Zardari not to pursue the premiership for himself, as it would split the party and reduce PPP’s national influence.
Aziz said he encouraged Zardari to support Amin Faheem for the prime ministership, but Zardari complained that Faheem is a poor administrator who lacks the skills needed to run the government.
Zardari seemed to be pushing PPP Punjab President Shah Mehmood Qureshi as a possible PM candidate, said the cable, adding that Aziz was less enthusiastic with this option, and told Zardari that “Qureshi would not work well with other parties, was very ambitious, and implied Qureshi could threaten Zardari’s authority.”
“Zardari and Aziz also discussed Former Defence Minister Aftab Mirani and PPP Vice Chairman Yousef Gilani as less likely PM options,” the cable added.
