MI and I distributed Rs70m each on Beg’s instructions: Durrani
ISLAMABAD: Former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief, Lt Gen (retd) Asad Durrani, on Thursday submitted documents to the Supreme Court, including a list of officers allegedly involved in illegally distributing money among the politicians in the 1990 elections, claiming that Rs70 million out of the Rs140 million were distributed through him while the remaining amount was submitted to the ISI’s secret funds and were distributed by officials of the Military Intelligence (MI).
A three-member bench of the Supreme Court comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Jawwad S Khawaja and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain is hearing a 1996 petition of Air Marshal (retd) Asghar Khan who accused the ISI of financing politicians in the 1990 elections by dishing out Rs140 million to create the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) and prevent Benazir Bhutto’s PPP from winning the polls.
Durrani was asked by the court to submit the list he had promised containing the names of ISI officials involved in the operation to substantiate the doling out of funds among different politicians. Submitting a written reply in the Supreme Court pertaining to distribution of money among the politicians to influence the general elections against the PPP, former DG ISI Asad Durrani stated that he had received the money from then Chief of Army Staff Mirza Aslam Beg.
The former spy chief claimed that the names of politicians were obtained from the Presidency through Ijlal Haider Zaidi, a member of then President Ghulam Ishaq Khan’s election team, while the “donations” were doled out to politicians on the directions of Aslam Beg.
The money was distributed at the behest of Ghulam Ishaq Khan as he had appointed Ijlal Haider Zaidi for this purpose, Durrani said. The former ISI chief submitted some classified documents along with the names of politicians who had been paid money.The apex court is to take up the case again on July 30.
” 
” 
” 
” 
