Leaked US Doc Terms Pakistani Govt Agency an ‘Associated Force’ of al-Qaeda

US-Pakistan Tensions Likely to Worsen Even More Over Claim

by Jason Ditz, April 25, 2011

The leaked US “Guantanamo Files” focus mostly on the dubious reasons for the more-or-less permanent detention of various captives, but perhaps the most serious release of the bunch is the “Matrix of Threat Indicators,” a list of various excuses for the detentions.

That is because among those reasons is “association with Pakistan ISID,” the Inter-Services Intelligence agency, which is the Pakistani government’s top spy agency. In addition to the agency’s significant influence, the current army Chief of Staff Gen. Parvez Kayani also was the former ISI chief.

The document didn’t stop there, either. Near the end, the file lists “associated forces” of al-Qaeda, and again lists the Pakistan ISI as having “an established working, supportive or beneficiary relationship for the achievement of common goals.”

The leak comes less than a week after Admiral Michael Mullen accused “some” elements of the ISI of having terror ties. The document appears to take this much further and treats the agency in general as a terrorist auxiliary for al-Qaeda.

This has spawned further concerns that the leaks will make the already tense US-Pakistan relationship even worse. The Pakistani government has been railing at the US for drone strikes and CIA operations for weeks, but the Obama Administration appears to have largely ignored the demands and continued with business as usual.

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