US to withdraw secret agents from Pakistan

(TFL)



Although Admiral Mike Mullen, during his April 21st visit to Islamabad refused to confirm call-back of intelligence operatives from Pakistan, ministry of interior sources say some CIA officials are being quietly pulled out.



Sources in the Interior Ministry say that many US undercover agents may soon start leaving Pakistan, though it is not clear which organisations were being used as cover for these agents. DAI, Asia Foundation, AED, IOM, some USAID related entities as well as some UN affiliated institutions are usually used to place intelligence operatives.



Ministry officials claim that over a dozen American intelligence personnel had already left for home but there is still no final figure available as to how many under-cover agents are present in Pakistan . Figures vary from 331 to 500 but it seems that the CIA and ISI are increasingly locking horns over the alleged covert operations of CIA and FBI inside Pakistan. Officials suspect that these agents have also been involved in what The Financial Times had last year called “False Flag Operations.” i.e. using the militants of various organisations for CIA objectives. They say the attack on GHQ (Oct 10th, 2009) and on the Parade :Lane Mosque (Dec 4, 2009), or the two attacks on Manawan Police Training College , Lahore bore the hallmarks of Lashkare Taiba / Lashkare Jhangvi Tactics but were apparently carried out to jolt the security establishment.



If those identified as intelligence agents dont leave the country, they would be declared persona non grata and summarily expelled .Interesting but testing times ahead for both Pakistan and United States.