Ijaz Shah
| Brigadier Ijaz Shah | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Brig. Shah |
| Born | Nankana Sahib, Pakistan |
| Allegiance |
 Pakistan |
| Service/branch |
 Pakistan Army |
| Years of service | 1966–2004 |
| Rank |
 Brigadier |
| Unit | 23 Infantry Punjab Regiment and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) |
| Commands held | DG Intelligence Bureau (DGIB) |
| Battles/wars | Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 |
| Other work | DG of I.B. |
Brigadier Ijaz Shah is a retired Pakistan Army officer and the former Director-General of Intelligence Bureau of Pakistan, and a long-term close associate of Pervez Musharraf, and a former Pakistan Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) operator.[1] He resigned as the IB chief on 17 March 2008. Appointed in 2004, the IB chief became a controversial and notorious personality in Pakistan where he was accused of using his department for political victimisation and for undermining the judiciary.[2]
Career as ISI officer
Shah was the ISI handling officer of the British-born international terrorist Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, convicted for the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl and part of the terrorist group Harkat-ul-Mujahideen as well as the handling officer for Osama Bin Laden and Mulla Mohammed Omar. In 1999, while serving a prison sentence for terrorist offence, Sheikh had been released in exchange for the passengers of the hijacked Indian Airlines flight 814. In February 2002, cornered by Pakistani police under strong American diplomatic pressure, Omar Sheikh turned himself to his close confident Brig. Shah, who then was the Home Secretary of the Pakistani Punjab region: Shah briefed Sheikh for a full week before remanding him to police custody.
IB chief
In 2004, Musharraf's attempt to appoint Ijaz Shah as High Commissioner to Australia was rejected in a highly unusual move by Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs. Instead Musharraf appointed him to head Pakistani Intelligence Bureau on 25 February 2004, transferring his predecessor, Wali Muhammad to Australia.[3]
Mr Shah agreed to go to Australia as Pakistan’s high commissioner in 2007, but President Musharraf accepted the current high commissioner’s plea for a year’s extension in tenure.
Role in Benazir Bhutto's Assassination Attempt
Days after the 2007 Karachi bombings, Benazir Bhutto in a letter to President Musharaf written on 16 October 2007 named Ijaz Shah as one of the four persons including the then chief minister of Punjab Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, the then chief minister of Sindh Arbab Ghulam Rahim, and the former ISI chief Hamid Gul she suspected were behind the attacks.[4]
Role in Syed Hammad Raza's Assassination
Government insiders also claim that Ex IB Chief Ijaz Shah's name was constantly linked with the Syed Hammad Raza's Assassination Investigation and then swept under the carpet, "It smells of his Operation", whether directly or indirectly he is involved. Ijaz Shah in recent times has been known to be Musharraf’s right hand man and has been rumoured to be involved in all his Covert operations that made him widely unpopular, Missing People's Case, Sacking of Chief Justice, Syed Hammad Murder case, Indian Terror Attacks etc. naming a few. Ijaz Shah has been rewarded generously since his alignment with Musharraf and was previously residing in Australia – Sydney after initially having his residency rejected due to terror links.ijaz shah has returned to Pakistan and is participating in the general elections of May 2013 as an independent candidate from constituency NA-137 Nankan III. The source further added that since ISI are involved - this case, like all important cases, will never be solved.
Role in Daniel Pearl's murder
"Debriefed" Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh after he handed himself over to the ISI in February 2002. http://www.fromthewilderness.com/timeline/2002/vanityfair0802.html
Role in hiding of Osama bin Laden
General Ziauddin Butt, former Director General of the ISI revealed in October 2011 that according to his knowledge Ijaz Shah, had kept Osama bin Laden in an Intelligence Bureau of Pakistan safe house in Abbottabad[5] but later denied making any such statement, after Shah announced filing a defamation suit against him.[6]
Notes
- ↑ Profile of Saeed Sheikh, under 5 February 2002
- ↑ Syed Irfan Raza. 'Intelligence Bureau chief removed' Dawn Newspaper, 18 March 2008
- ↑ "Ijaz Shah new IB chief" Daily Times, 26 February 2004.
- ↑ Shakeel, Syed Faisal PPP demands probe based on Benazir’s letter Dawn Newspaper, 30 December 2007
- ↑ Jamal, Arif. "Former Pakistan Army Chief Reveals Intelligence Bureau Harbored Bin Laden in Abbottabad". Terrorism Monitor Journal. The JamesTown Foundation.
- ↑ Ashraf Javed (16 February 2012). "Ijaz Shah to sue Ziauddin Butt". The Nation. Retrieved 14 November 2012.