ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s army and premier intelligence agency (ISI) have asked the government to tighten the visa regime especially for Western media with American journalists on top of them.
According to well-placed defense sources, they have noted American journalists arriving here on ‘business visas.’ “This should not be on as these so-called media people serve as the sources of their respective intelligence agencies,” a source said requesting anonymity. “They (visiting foreign journalists) are also detrimental to our national interest as they give colour of their perception against Pakistan to the pieces of information they confront as foreigners here,” the sources observed.
He also recalled recent news about the Americans plans to apply lie-detector -tests to Pakistanis arriving at any airport in US. “Why cannot we apply these kinds of tests and scrutiny measures on the visitors coming to Pakistan,” the sources asked the question. The sources were of the view that the Western powers with the US on top of them have unleashed a psychological warfare against Pakistan. “And as against army, air force, and navy, now their arms of assault or media, intelligence agencies, and covert operations,” he added. The source termed the latest report in the international media claiming a race between the ISI and the CIA hunting for Mulla Omar as part of the constant psychological assaults against Pakistan. “The main purpose of these kinds of reports was to portray Pakistan as helpless and the US as sole super power of the world which could walk in anyone’s home,” the source added.
He describe it as baseless sensationalizing to say that a grand army operation in Quetta was in the offing as claimed the report. British newspaper The Sun like many other Western papers had reported on Tuesday that both US and Pakistani special forces were hunting the Taliban spiritual leader’s hideout after new tip-offs.
Intelligence suggests the one-eyed warlord is being sheltered in the western Pakistani city of Quetta, near the Afghan border, the paper said.
Pakistan’s ISI spy network was said to be desperate to find him first after being humiliated by the American operation which killed al-Qaeda chief Bin Laden.
And US strike teams were fine-tuning plans for an assault on Omar’s lair after collecting a treasure trove of data from Bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad.
According to the paper They also want to quiz Bin Laden’s three wives, now under arrest in Pakistan, who were with him when he died. But Omar, 52 - Bin Laden’s protector in Afghanistan when the 9/11 attacks were planned - is surrounded by hundreds of heavily-armed fighters and expects a follow-up attack.
A senior ISI official confirmed they were going after Omar, adding: "There will be a huge military action in Quetta very soon. "The decision has been taken to act before the Americans have a chance to repeat their mission against Bin Laden. We will try to take him alive but if he resists he will be killed."
Omar, 52 - Bin Laden’s right-hand man and protector in Afghanistan when the 9/11 attacks were planned - has a $25million reward on his head. Moves were also afoot to find al-Qaeda deputy Ayman Al-Zawahiri - also thought to be in Pakistan.
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