Friend and Ally Update: “ISI backs al-Qaeda: British report,” from Associated Press, with thanks to F.:
London, September 28: A leaked British document accuses Pakistan’s intelligence agency of indirectly supporting terrorist groups including al-Qaeda, and it calls on Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf to disband the agency.
Musharraf, who is scheduled to meet British Prime Minister Tony Blair in London on Thursday, told the British Broadcasting Corp. that he rejected the assessment and would raise the matter with his counterpart.
“ISI is a disciplined force, breaking the back of al-Qaeda,” Musharraf told the broadcaster, claiming his intelligence service had secured the arrests of 680 suspected terrorists.
Sure, Pervez. They started breaking the back of al-Qaeda right after Armitage threatened to bomb Pakistan back to the stone age, right?