Pak ISI chief to be replaced

The chief of Pakistan’s powerful spy agency ISI, Lt. Gen. Rizwan Akhtar, is likely to be replaced within the next few weeks, a media report said on Saturday.

Akhtar was appointed the director general of Inter- Services Intelligence in September 2014 and took office in November 2014. He replaced the retiring Lt. Gen. Zaheer-ul-Islam.

The appointment is normally for a three-year period unless the ISI chief retires or is replaced by the army chief.

The Nation, citing a security official privy to the development, reported of the impending change of command and said preparations were underway for the changes.

“Intriguingly, he may be leaving the position earlier than the typical three-year tenure of a ISI DG,” said the report.

The corps commander of Karachi, Lt. Gen. Naveed Mukhtar, is most likely to replace him, the official was quoted as saying.

Another senior security official was quoted as saying that Akhtar who has already served in Karachi as Director General, Sindh Rangers, knew the challenges in Karachi and “the swapping makes sense”.

The official was, however, more circumspect about the timing of the change and said, “It depends on whether the army chief, Gen. Raheel Sharif, gets an extension or retires as announced.”

“I don’t think the notification of other changes in military command will come before that,” he said. “There are a lot of variables involved.”