After Remarks On Pak Army And Osama Op, Ex-ISI Chief Put On No-Fly List

New Delhi: Former Pakistani spy chief Asad Durrani, who collaborated with an Indian counterpart in a book that touches on Pakistan's role in Afghanistan and Kashmir, has been stopped from leaving the country and put on the no-fly list. Retired Lieutenant General Asad Durrani headed Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) from 1990 to 1992. On Monday, he was placed on the Exit Control List (ECL), which stops him from leaving the country.

Asad Durrani has been facing a controversy since the release last week of "The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace", the book he co-wrote with AS Dulat, who headed India's intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).

He was summoned to the Pakistani military headquarters yesterday and accused of violating the institution's code of conduct over comments he made in the book.
 The book is based on a series of discussions between the two former spy chiefs on subjects including tense relations with India and Pakistan's interference in Kashmir and Afghanistan. The US has long accused the ISI of backing terrorists in Afghanistan, including the Taliban. Islamabad denies the claims.

The military is the most powerful institution in Pakistan and has ruled the country for around half its history. Criticism of the military, especially its use of proxies or terrorists in conflicts in the region, is seen as taboo in the country.

Exploring a topic that is extremely sensitive for the Pakistani army, the book suggests that Islamabad may have known about the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden and may have later handed over information to the US resulting in the 2011 raid that killed the Al Qaeda chief.

Speaking to NDTV along with Mr Dulat, Asad Durrani had said he had reason to believe his country's army cooperated with the US in the operation to kill Osama bin Laden in his hideout in Pakistan's Abbottabad cantonment.

"The more important thing is that the investigative report I have seen - two from the west, two from Pakistan, they all come to more or less the same conclusion that at some stage the ISI cooperated, the army cooperated," said Asad Durrani, adding that the operation also had the consent of the government.

The controversy comes weeks after former prime minister Nawaz Sharif sparked a similar firestorm at home and in India by suggesting Pakistani terrorists were behind the 2008 attacks in Mumbai.