Pak backtracks, to send ISI rep now and not the chief

At a meeting here early morning on Saturday, President Asif Ali Zardari, Gilani and Army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani decided against sending Pasha to India which suspected involvement of Pakistani elements in the Mumbai terror attacks that left over 160 dead.

The unscheduled meeting held at the presidency continued well past 1.30 a.m.

“A representative of the ISI will visit India, instead of its Director General Lt Gen Shuja Pasha, to help in investigating the Mumbai terrorism incident,” a spokesman for the Prime Minister’s House said.

Gilani had yesterday agreed to send the ISI chief to New Delhi for sharing information on the coordinated terror attacks on Mumbai when spoke to Singh over phone.

The Pakistan Prime Minister had telephoned Singh to condemn the attacks and offer Islamabad’s assistance in investigating the incident.

Singh wanted the ISI chief to visit Delhi to put before him information about the possible involvement of Pakistani elements, including those belonging to militant outfit Lashkar-e Toiba (LeT), in the terror strikes.

Separate statements issued by the Prime Minister’s House and the Foreign Office had earlier said the ISI chief would travel to India in connection with the probe.

The statement from the Prime Minister’s House had said the “ISI chief will visit India at the earliest” after modalities were worked out by both governments.

Gilani’s decision was criticised by the opposition PML-N, PML-Q and Jamaat-e-Islami. Analysts in India and Pakistan had also questioned whether the civilian government led by Gilani’s Pakistan People’s Party would be able to convince the powerful military to send the ISI chief to India.