ISI director general to get extension again

ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has advised President Asif Ali Zardari to extend Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General Lt General Ahmed Shuja Pasha’s service for another two years, Online news service reported.
Since Pasha is already serving an extension, extending his service further requires a favorable advice of the prime minister to be duly approved by the president. Therefore, Gilani has already moved a summary to the president, sources privy to the development told Online. They said that the president was likely to sign the summary proposing a two-year extension in Pasha’s service.
On March 9, 2010 Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani had extended the term of service of Pasha, as rules empower the army chief to extend service of a Lt General by a year. The sources said the rules underlined that the first time post-retirement extension in service of Lt Generals did not require the government’s approval.
The retirement date of Pasha, who has been serving as the ISI DG since his appointment by Kayani in September 2008, was March 18, 2010. The extension would expire on the 18th of this month. Thus the PPP government considering multiple factors, ranging from internal security to ties with America, has decided that extension to Pasha was unavoidable.