US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen stuck to his guns even as the White House and State Department sought to distance themselves from his remarks that the Haqqani network was “a veritable arm” of the Pakistan’s spy agency, the ISI. Mullen told CNN on Wednesday that elements in Pakistan’s Directorate for the ISI were “very active” with the Haqqani network launching attacks on US forces in Afghanistan.
Mullen’s remarks to the US Congress last week for the first time directly linking the ISI with the militant group blamed for the attack on the US embassy in Kabul caused a diplomatic furore with the civilian and military leaders, who have denied the accusation. Meanwhile, the White House on Wednesday distanced itself from the retiring officer’s statement. Asked whether he agreed with Mullen that the Haqqani network was “a veritable arm” of the ISI, Jay Carney, the White House press secretary, told reporters, “It’s not language I would use.”
He said, “But the Obama administration is united in its assessment that links exist between the Haqqani network and the ISI, and that Pakistan needs to take action to address that.” Asked whether the State Department stood behind Mullen’s testimony, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said, “We stand behind his conclusion that this safe haven is extremely dangerous, that we must work on it together. Admiral Mullen also made the point that we have no choice, the US and Pakistan, but to tackle this together.”
Asked how the State Department would define the relationship between the ISI and the Haqqani Network, she parried, “Again, that’s not an issue for this Department. That’s an intelligence question.”
US slaps sanctions on Haqqani man, four others
WASHINGTON – The US Treasury hit a “key” commander in the powerful Haqqani network with sanctions on Thursday. The Treasury said Abdul Aziz Abbasin, an Afghan native, was appointed by the Haqqani network as “the Taliban shadow governor” in Orgun district of Afghanistan. Four other figures with links to Taliban and al Qaeda activities in Afghanistan and Pakistan were named in the sanctions.
Treasury listed Afghanistan natives Hajji Faizullah Khan Noorzai and Haji Malik Noorzai as Taliban financiers. It also named Pakistan national Abdur Rehman, who operates a religious school in Karachi, as aiding the Taliban and al Qaeda logistically and financially. The fifth person named was Fazal Rahim. AFP
