PAKISTAN ARMY SUMMONS EXISI CHIEF DURRANI OVER NEW BOOK

ISLAMABAD: A former chief of Pakistan’s intelligence agency has been summoned by its army for allegedly violating the military code of conduct through his comments appearing in a book co-authored with India’s ex-spy chief.

Lt Gen (retd) Asad Durrani, who headed the Inter-Services Intelligence from August 1990 till March 1992, and former Research and Analysis Wing chief AS Dulat had written The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace.

The book was released on Wednesday.

Durrani was being called to General Headquarters on Monday and “will be asked to explain his position on views attributed to him in book ‘Spy Chronicles’”, the army said in a statement.

It said the attribution of statements in the book to the former ISI chief is being “taken as a violation of Military Code of Conduct applicable on all serving and retired military personnel”.

Durrani was summoned after ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday demanded an urgent meeting of the high-powered National Security Committee to discuss the contents of the book.

In the book, Durrani made certain claims, including that the then Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani was fully onboard regarding the US Navy Seals operation that killed former Al Qaeda chief Osama bin-Ladin in Abbottabad and that a special deal was struck between the US and Pakistan in this regard.

It is written in the form of dialogues between Durrani and Dulat moderated by journalist Aditya Sinha.