ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has not been able to appoint a director general (DG) of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) in place of the recently retired DG Aftab Sultan, according to a local news outlet.
According to the report, all administrative, financial and operational matters that require the approval of IB DG are now pending. DG is the final authority of the IB and it is not advisable for a sensitive agency to stay without a DG even for a few hours, let alone days, an official told the publication.
A number of names are under consideration for the IB DG appointment but no name has been finalised as of yet. Commandant Academy Mehr Khaliq Dad Lak, IB Joint Director Fawad Asadullah and IB Joint Director Dr Suleman Khan are some of the officials that are being considered for the post.
Punjab Inspector General Police Arif Nawaz Khan, Federal Investigation Agency DG Bashir Ahmed Memon, National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) National Coordinator Ihsan Ghani, IB Joint Director Shujaatullah Qureshi and National Police Bureau DG Shaukat Hayat are also being considered.
Fawad Asadullah, Dr Suleman and Shujaatullah Qureshi are officers of basic pay scale 21. All other officers belong to Police Service of Pakistan and are serving in BPS-22. The rest of the police officers are on deputation in the respective departments with the exception of Arif Nawaz.