Poreg View: WikiLeaks No 141804 carried originally by Dawn.com and since published by Express Tribune makes the claim that the ISI prevented Saudi Arabia from giving the PML-N election funds in the 2008 polls. This means the Zardari government is very much indebted to the establishment. In fact, the disclosure leads to the conclusion that the civilian government under President Asif Ali Zardari is very much a product of the establishment.
Nawaz Sharif and his PML-N have been basking in the reflex glory of their ties with the Royal family. They also donot miss to point to the fact that it was Riyadh’s intervention that had forced Gen Musharraf to let Nawaz take ‘shelter’ in Saudi Arabia. Now from the Wikileaks disclosure, it is clear that the ISI can afford to have the last laugh. Because, the disclosure shows that the ISI has strong links to the Saudi administration and its influence in SA is even stronger than the PML-N. Nadeem Taj, the ISI chief of the day, told the Saudi Ambassador in the Pakistan capital that any Saudi aid violated Pakistan’s agreement with the Saudis on Nawaz’s return from exile. The cable to the State Department, by Anne Patterson, US ambassador in Islamabad, reads thus: “(Tariq) Aziz (National Security Advisor and Musharraf’s trusted aide) claimed the Saudis were heavily funding Sharif’s campaign to ensure a PPP defeat and hedge their bets against Musharraf. Taj called the Saudi Ambassador and requested this (be) stop (stopped), saying it violated the GOP’s agreement with the Saudis on Nawaz’s return from exile. Aziz observed that if the PML-N and the PPP formed a government, “What options would Musharraf have?” Tariq Aziz also told the American envoy that the Saudis were heavily funding Sharif’s campaign to ensure PPP’s defeat and hedge their bets against Musharraf. As a reward for these ‘services’, President Zardari wanted to make Aziz the Prime Minister after 2008 polls but Aziz suggested the name of PPP senior and Benazir loyalist Amin Faheem. This was not to the liking of Zardari who had a poor opinion of Faheem as an administrator. Moreover he wanted to propel a Punjabi into the high profile job in order to besmirch Nawaz Sharif in Punjab. That is how SM Qureshi, the garrulous foreign minister for a couple of years before the Raymond Davis happened, came into reckoning for the post of PM but his ambitions were sabotaged by Tariq Aziz, who cautioned Zardari that Qureshi could pose a threat to him. Whatever be his other failings, Qureshi managed the foreign office well. He did not allow interference from the Prime Minister since he had his ears close to the establishment. After his exit, multiple centres have emerged for dealings with Washington and in the process of foreign office can be said to have been sidelined. In fact, it will be fair to say the Foreign Ministry is kept in the dark on most of the negotiations with the U.S; the military and the civilian establishments are carrying out their own negotiations with Washington often in splendid isolation of each other.
Nawaz Sharif and his PML-N have been basking in the reflex glory of their ties with the Royal family. They also donot miss to point to the fact that it was Riyadh’s intervention that had forced Gen Musharraf to let Nawaz take ‘shelter’ in Saudi Arabia. Now from the Wikileaks disclosure, it is clear that the ISI can afford to have the last laugh. Because, the disclosure shows that the ISI has strong links to the Saudi administration and its influence in SA is even stronger than the PML-N. Nadeem Taj, the ISI chief of the day, told the Saudi Ambassador in the Pakistan capital that any Saudi aid violated Pakistan’s agreement with the Saudis on Nawaz’s return from exile. The cable to the State Department, by Anne Patterson, US ambassador in Islamabad, reads thus: “(Tariq) Aziz (National Security Advisor and Musharraf’s trusted aide) claimed the Saudis were heavily funding Sharif’s campaign to ensure a PPP defeat and hedge their bets against Musharraf. Taj called the Saudi Ambassador and requested this (be) stop (stopped), saying it violated the GOP’s agreement with the Saudis on Nawaz’s return from exile. Aziz observed that if the PML-N and the PPP formed a government, “What options would Musharraf have?” Tariq Aziz also told the American envoy that the Saudis were heavily funding Sharif’s campaign to ensure PPP’s defeat and hedge their bets against Musharraf. As a reward for these ‘services’, President Zardari wanted to make Aziz the Prime Minister after 2008 polls but Aziz suggested the name of PPP senior and Benazir loyalist Amin Faheem. This was not to the liking of Zardari who had a poor opinion of Faheem as an administrator. Moreover he wanted to propel a Punjabi into the high profile job in order to besmirch Nawaz Sharif in Punjab. That is how SM Qureshi, the garrulous foreign minister for a couple of years before the Raymond Davis happened, came into reckoning for the post of PM but his ambitions were sabotaged by Tariq Aziz, who cautioned Zardari that Qureshi could pose a threat to him. Whatever be his other failings, Qureshi managed the foreign office well. He did not allow interference from the Prime Minister since he had his ears close to the establishment. After his exit, multiple centres have emerged for dealings with Washington and in the process of foreign office can be said to have been sidelined. In fact, it will be fair to say the Foreign Ministry is kept in the dark on most of the negotiations with the U.S; the military and the civilian establishments are carrying out their own negotiations with Washington often in splendid isolation of each other.
