[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 22 (Tuesday, March 5, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H669-H670]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              PAKISTAN'S INTER-SERVICES INTELLIGENCE--ISI

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I come to the House floor this evening to 
express my serious concerns regarding Pakistan's Inter-Services 
Intelligence, or ISI. It is important to highlight the history, work 
and intentions of the ISI in light of the unfortunate murder of Daniel 
Pearl and in light of the current fight against global terrorism.
  The ISI not only has ties to Omar Sheik, the prime suspect in the 
murder of Daniel Pearl, but the ISI has also fostered deep connections 
with Islamic militant groups, particularly Jaish-e-Muhammad, operating 
throughout Kashmir.
  In the 1980s, Pakistan assisted Afghanistan in fighting off Soviet 
invasion. During these years, the ISI grew into the role of Pakistan's 
strongest political agency on foreign policy. It was also during this 
time that the ISI developed and nurtured strong relationships with 
Islamic militants in Afghanistan and Kashmir.
  Ties between the ISI and Afghan militants grew stronger, and this 
gave rise to the Taliban. The ties between the Taliban and the ISI 
remained strong for years, and to this day there are deep connections 
between the Pakistani ISI and what is left of the Taliban.
  Ties between the ISI and Islamic militants in Kashmir grew stronger 
as well, and, in fact, the ISI, until very recently, had a Kashmir 
desk, headed by Brigadier Abdullah, which was responsible for militant 
insurgency into India's state of Jammu and Kashmir.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to expand on the deep, nefarious 
connections between the ISI in light of Daniel Pearl's murder and 
recent terrorist events throughout the world. There have been reports 
that Brigadier Abdullah, formerly of the ISI, has aided Omar Sheik in 
his travels between Afghanistan and Pakistan and has perhaps provided 
further support to both Omar Sheik and another individual, Maulana 
Azhar.
  Omar Sheik and Maulana Azhar worked to form Jaish-e-Muhammad, an 
Islamic militant group that continues to operate throughout Kashmir and 
is the primary group blamed for the October attack on the Jammu and 
Kashmir State assembly. Jaish has received support from the ISI and 
particularly Brigadier Abdullah.
  Both Sheikh and Azhar served in prison together in India in 1999, 
when they were freed after the hijacking of an Indian Airlines flight 
that landed in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Mr. Speaker, I would like to note 
that this flight was hijacked by the method of knives and box cutters 
and that weapons were not available to the hijackers until the plane 
landed in Kandahar. Furthermore, it was after their release that both 
Sheikh and Azhar formed Jaish and operated terrorist activities in 
Kashmir while in Pakistan and Afghanistan and with the help of the 
Pakistani ISI.

[[Page H670]]

  Azhar was arrested in December, 2001. However, Sheikh continued his 
mission of kidnapping and terrorism in hopes of Jihad; and, until the 
murder of Daniel Pearl, Sheikh was living freely in Pakistan. If it was 
not for the support of current or former officials of the Pakistani 
ISI, Sheikh may not have been able to succeed in his mission until this 
point in time and may not have succeeded in the kidnapping and tragic 
murder of Daniel Pearl.
  It is clear that the ties between the ISI and both the Taliban and 
militant groups in Kashmir are deep. General Musharraf has taken it 
upon himself to arrest Azhar, arrest Sheikh, remove Brigadier Abdullah 
from the ISI and crack down on terrorists. However, more work needs to 
be done if Pakistan wants to take serious steps in breaking ties with 
the Taliban and Islamic militant groups operating in Kashmir and 
defusing tensions with India due to the terrorist attack on the Indian 
Parliament.
  Although the ties between Pakistani intelligence officials and 
terrorists are clear, there is still much left to be investigated and 
publicized. Mr. Speaker, we need to approach the ISI with criticism and 
we need to approach Pakistan with great caution. U.S.-Pakistan ties 
have become closer as a result of our war in Afghanistan. However, I 
cannot urge us enough to proceed with caution.
  The terrorist networks operating in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Kashmir 
are not isolated and, in fact, have significant ties to al Qaeda.

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