ISLAMABAD: The head of Pakistan’s powerful spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), on Thursday slammed former Prime Minister Imran Khan over his criticism of the military, appearing in a rare press conference to question the ex-premier’s motives behind anti-army remarks and portraying Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa as a “traitor” among his followers.

This is the first time in Pakistan’s history that the head of the ISI has addressed a media briefing. Lt. Gen. Nadeem Anjum was approved as ISI chief in October last year and has since never made any public appearances or comments.

The DG ISI is one of the most important and powerful posts in Pakistan, at the intersection of domestic politics, the war on militancy and Pakistan’s foreign relations.

In remarks to journalists, Anjum, who was dressed in civilian clothing, said he was aware that the media was “surprised by my presence,” but he could not remain silent while the military was being “targeted for no reason.”

The general was referring to criticism by Khan, his party and its supporters of the military’s role in politics.

Khan was ousted from the office of prime minister in April in a vote of no-confidence. Him and his supporters have since variously expressed disappointment that the military and its army chief did not support him against the ouster and instead helped bring the coalition government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to power.

The Pakistani military, which has a long history of intervening in national politics, had said before Khan’s removal, and since, that it would remain apolitical. The ex-PM and his followers have widely criticized this policy and on social media, where Khan has a massive following, hashtags calling the army chief a traitor and asking him to resign are a daily occurrence.

“If you [Khan] are convinced that the head of your army is a traitor, then why did you praise him so much just in the recent past?” Anjum said at the presser. “If he was really a traitor in your point of view, then why do you still meet him behind closed doors?”

“Don’t do this, that you meet us in the dark of night behind closed doors to express your constitutional and unconstitutional wishes and then in the light of day call the same person a traitor.”

The DG ISI said the army chief had received an offer in March for an “indefinite extension” in service. Khan was still in government then.

“Let me also inform you that in the month of March [2022], the army chief was offered an indefinite extension in his tenure, the offer was made in my presence,” he told reporters. “It was a very attractive offer but he [army chief] turned it down because he had made the decision to bring the institution out of its controversial era and into a constitutional role.”

“The offer was made because the no-confidence motion was at its peak,” the general added.

Talking about the decision to address the press conference, Anjum said he was there to “defend” the country’s institutions:

“I would often see that lies were being spread and the youth was accepting them ... Those sacrificing their lives [soldiers] should not have to face these lies. Hence, remaining silent was morally unacceptable for me now.”

The DG ISI said his agency had informed him about organized campaigns launched against him on social media in March.

“I told them to get in touch when the retweets exceed eight thousand million. Before that, I don’t care about myself.”

“ARSHAD SHARIF KILLING”

During the presser, military spokesperson, Lt General Babar Iftikhar, also addressed the issue of the killing of Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif in Kenya last Sunday, saying the anchorman left Pakistan on the instructions of the CEO of the TV channel he worked for and after a threat alert was issued by the provincial administration of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party is in power.

Arshad Sharif was killed Sunday night when the car he was in sped up and drove through a checkpoint outside the Kenyan capital and police opened fire. Nairobi police expressed regret over the incident, saying it was a case of “mistaken identity” during a search for a car involved in a child abduction case.

A hugely popular talk show host, Sharif was of late a harsh critic of the current ruling coalition and the army, and fled the country in August, citing threats to his life. He was also widely considered a staunch supporter of ex-PM Khan and his PTI party. At the time he left Pakistan, he was facing a slew of court cases related to charges of sedition and others. He left Pakistan for the United Arab Emirates and had recently traveled to Kenya from the Emirates.

Sharif’s death has unleashed outrage among the public and media and widespread calls for a transparent investigation.

“On August 5, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [KP] government issued a threat alert regarding the ARY anchor Arshad Sharif,” Iftikhar told journalists. “According to our information, the alert was issued on the special instructions of the KP chief minister and said an Afghanistan-based TTP [Pakistan Taliban] group had held a meeting in Spin Boldak and decided to target Arshad Sharif in Rawalpindi or its adjoining areas.”

The PTI government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa did not share the information with the federal government or any security agencies or specify how it obtained the information that Sharif was going to be targeted, the army spokesperson said:

“The threat alert was issued with specific planning to convince Arshad Sharif to leave the country.”

Showing screenshots of conversations between ARY director news Ammad Yousaf and the channel’s CEO Salman Iqbal, the military spokesman said Sharif’s ticket to Dubai was officially booked by ARY and he left Pakistan from Peshawar, the capital of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, with the facilitation of government officials there. The ticket was booked by an ARY official on August 9 from a travel agency in Karachi and the return date on the ticket was September 9. Sharif left for Dubai from Peshawar on August 10 via an Emirates flight, Iftikhar said.

“No state institution tried in any way to stop Arshad Sharif from leaving, if the government wanted to do so, it could have done it,” he said, adding that the journalist traveled onwards to Kenya after his UAE visa expired.

“No one at the state level forced Arshad Sharif to leave Dubai. So who were the people who forced him to leave from there? … Who told him not to return to Pakistan and that his life was safer in a country like Kenya?”

“The name of the CEO of ARY, Salman Iqbal, is coming up again and again,” the military spokesperson said. “He should be brought back to Pakistan and made part of the investigation.”

Iqbal has been based in the UAE and US since at least July this year when his channel got embroiled in a scandal related to sedition charges over remarks aired on ARY that the media regulator said were tantamount to inciting mutiny within the army.

“Kenyan police accepted their mistake and it has to be examined whether this [Sharif’s killing] is a case of mistaken identity or one of targeted killing. There are several questions that have to be answered,” the military spokesman said, calling for a “transparent and fair probe” and requesting the government to form a high-level inquiry commission.