Pakistan bowed to US pressure and named a new spy chief yesterday amid fears that elements within the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) had been playing a “double game” in the War on Terror.

Lieutenant-General Ahmed Shuja Pasha, the new head of the ISI, had been leading the Pakistani Army’s campaign against Islamic militants in the lawless northwest of the country.

He is a close associate of General Ashfaq Kayani, Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff, who replaced President Musharraf as head of the military in December. He replaces Lieutenant-General Nadeem Taj, who had an uneasy relationship with the new civilian Government of President Zardari.

Lieutenant-General Pasha’s promotion came as part of a shake-up of the military leadership.

Analysts said that the reshuffle would help General Kayani to consolidate his authority as the Army is engaged in the most intense fighting in the tribal region along the Afghan border since Pakistan joined the US in the War on Terror in 2001.

Although the ISI is nominally under the control of the civilian Government, more than 80 per cent of its cadres and officers belong to the military.

The US and Afghanistan have accused it of being involved in a terrorist attack on the Indian Embassy in Kabul in July in which more than 50 people died. US officials also believe that Pakistani agents tipped off militants before missile strikes against targets in Pakistan.

Times Recommends

• Rio Tinto four held as China prepares case
• Diplomats must keep heads down and trousers up
• When in Rome should one make like Berlusconi?