Gen Faiz an asset that was wasted: Imran

RAWALPINDI: Days after the former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lieutenant General (R) Faiz Hameed was taken into custody by the Pakistan Army, former prime minister Imran Khan Thursday said that the ex-spymaster continued negotiations with the Taliban for three years as he enjoyed good relations with them, adding that the former serviceman was an asset for the country, however, he was wasted. Responding to a question while talking to journalists at the Adiala jail, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder chairman said that while he was the premier, he did not want to remove Lt Gen (retd) Faiz from his office amid regime change in Afghanistan.

At the time, General Faiz was engaged with the Afghanistan government and Taliban, he said, adding that the former army officer arranged his meeting with then US envoy on Afghanistan’s peace process Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban representatives.

The embattled PTI founder said that he exchanged heated words with the former army chief, General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa over the issue of removing the former ISI boss from his post, adding that Bajwa removed Faiz for the sake of his extension. “I repeatedly asked Bajwa not to remove Faiz but to no avail,” he added. “General (R) Bajwa also toppled my government for the sake of his extension,” he stressed, adding that he holds Bajwa responsible for the spike in terrorism in the country.

Earlier, Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’ had brought the fact to the fore that the PTI founder had admitted several times that he had extended offers to General Bajwa, and even after the fall of his government, that he wanted General Bajwa to continue as the army chief till after the elections. The PTI founder also admitted in the past that he wanted to retain then ISI DG Faiz Hameed to protect his government from a no-confidence motion.But on Thursday talking to journalists, the former prime minister distanced himself from the former ISI chief and said: “I have no connection with General (retd) Faiz.” “If the military wants the accountability of General Faiz, it should proceed and do it,” Imran Khan said, asserting that it is the army’s internal matter.

Welcoming the development, the former premier said it was good that the army has launched the process of internal accountability. However, he urged the military to ensure that the process of accountability should be across the board.

Commenting on a statement by Defence Minister Khawaja Asif who had said the former spymaster was involved in the May 9 riots, Khan demanded an inquiry to ascertain if the retired general was behind the violent protests. “Khawaja Asif said that General Bajwa had sought an extension. It is an endorsement of what I have been saying,” he continued.

He also claimed that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz supremo Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif had also sought to remove Faiz.

Speaking in Geo News programme, anchor Shahzeb Khanzada pointed out contradictions in Imran Khan’s various statements since his ouster from power about Gen Bajwa and Gen Faiz Hameed.

Shahzeb said that now Imran is saying he wanted to retain Gen Faiz as the ISI chief because of the situation in Afghanistan and his good relations with Taliban. But, Shahzeb said, Imran had said in an interview in May 2022 that he wanted Faiz to stay in the ISI to counter the opposition’s plan to ouster his government through a no-trust move which he had become aware of in July 2021. Imran also admitted that he was quite vocal about it and had said so in his cabinet meeting also, Shahzeb added.

Shahzeb pointed out that today Imran Khan says that Gen Bajwa brought about his government’s fall after failing to secure an extension in his tenure, but the PTI founder has himself admitted in a TV interview that he was willing to give Bajwa an extension if the opposition had given him such an offer. Imran is also on record to have suggested extending Bajwa’s tenure until elections for which, he admitted, a legal provision could be carved out.