Pak IB, ISI destroying crucial intelligence data

Islamabad, Mar 21: Pakistan Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) have been destroying some of the crucial intelligence data and material, including explosive tape recordings of the top-most government officials, opposition and media persons to avoid getting caught by the new government, a senior spy has said.

The spy said that some of the IB officials had secured the copies of some high-profile tapes, which even included telephonic conversations of President Pervez Musharraf, then Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, including Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and Shujaat Hussain. "In late sittings, our men do the job to destroy the evidence of what the bureau has been doing in the recent years. Intelligence agencies are frittering away their dirty work before the incoming masters wash the linen they have collected," the News quoted a senior spy of IB, as saying.

In particular, telephonic tapes of different persons, including judges, lawyers, politicians, bureaucrats, journalists and even many of those who had ruled this country during the last eight years are being ruined, claimed one of the in-house offifial contenders for the post of Director-General Intelligence Bureau.

"Telephonic tapes, which were ruined, included conversation of top journalists. The tape had purely a free and frank discussion on professional matters between journalist colleagues done after March 9, 2007. It was same immoral and unlawful intelligence work of the intelligence agencies in which some media persons were seen by some of the conspirators who had fuelled the judicial crisis against Musharraf," the spy said.

Journalist's names were never made public. Deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and leading lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan were publicly described as the one who had hatched the so-called conspiracy.

Unofficially, Nawaz Sharif was alleged to have financed the judicial movement.

On the charges of treason, some of the targeted journalists were also conveyed unofficially that they might be booked.

ANI