Washington: Pakistan`s ISI should focus on
nabbing some of the world`s most wanted terrorists -- Ayman
al-Zawahiri, Siraj Haqqani, Major Iqbal, Sajid Mir and Dawood
Ibrahim -- hiding in the country, a US foreign policy magazine
has demanded.
"As Pakistan`s powerful Inter-Service Intelligence
directorate (ISI) was able to uncover and arrest the alleged
CIA informants very soon after the killing (of Osma bin
Laden), one might wonder what they could do if they put as
much energy into locating some of the world`s other most
wanted people believed to be hiding out in the country," the
prestigious Foreign Policy magazine said on its website
yesterday.
It has identified Sajid Mir, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Siraj
Haqqani, Major Iqbal and Dawood Ibrahim as the few bad guys
who should be on the target list of the ISI.
Sajid Mir is the man believed to be behind the Mumbai
terrorist attacks in 2008 is a shadowy figure with ties to
militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba and reportedly to the ISI,
though they deny it, it said.
"He directed the Mumbai operation as it was happening and
can be heard on recorded phone conversations instructing the
terrorists on the ground where to go, whom to kill, and when
to go out in a storm of bullets. He also recruited the
American David Headley to act as a scout for the group," it
said.
Ayman al-Zawahiri, new al Qaeda chief and bin Laden`s
longtime deputy, is one of America`s prime targets in
Pakistan, it said.
Siraj Haqqani, the current leader of the powerful Haqqani
network sends weapons, recruits, and supplies to attack US
forces in Afghanistan.
The group is closely allied to the Taliban. Some analysts
say it works as a proxy force used by the ISI, elements of
which are accused of providing financial and operational
support for their attacks in Afghanistan, it said.
Major Iqbal, the Foreign Policy magazine said is perhaps
the most mysterious fugitive in Pakistan. He is an officer in
the ISI who helped plan the 2008 Mumbai attacks, according to
testimony from David Headley, who claimed that he provided
money and helped choose targets.
He is named as Headley`s ISI handler in a Justice
Department indictment. But very little is known about
him--including his real identity and how high up in the ISI he
was.
In 2009, Forbes Magazine named Dawood Ibrahim the 50th
most powerful person in the world.
"The head of the Mumbai-based crime syndicate D-Company,
he is also India`s most wanted man, believed to be involved in
everything from drug and weapons trafficking to terrorism
(he`s suspected of organising attacks in Bombay in 1993 that
killed 257 people and the US says he has links to al Qaeda).
"He`s reportedly hiding out in Pakistan, using plastic
surgery to help avoid detection--as well as his connections in
the ISI," the magazine said on its website.
PTI
