Osama's Handling Officer Was In Charge Of Benazir's Security

Osama's handling officer was incharge of Benazir's security

http://in.rediff.com/news/2007/oct/19raman.htm

B Raman
October 19, 2007

According to latest reports, at least 132 persons -- 20 of them police officers deputed to protect former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto [Images] -- were killed in a suspected suicide attack on the convoy by which she was being taken from the Karachi airport to the mausoleum of Mohammad Ali Jinnah on the night of October 18. The suicide attack or attacks were clearly aimed to kill her on arrival in Karachi to a triumphant welcome by her supporters, but she managed to escape.

Reliable sources say one or two suicide bombers were involved. The bullet-proof vehicle by which she was being taken by her supporters was protected by two cordons of security guards. The inner cordon consisted of security guards engaged by her Pakistan People's Party parliamentarians to protect her. Many of them were former policemen and ex-servicemen enjoying her and her party's confidence. The outer cordon consisted of officers of the Sindh police and plainclothes security officers of Pakistan's Intelligence Bureau, which is now headed by Brig Ejaz Shah, a former officer of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, who is a close personal friend of Gen Pervez Musharraf [Images] and Gen (retd) Mohammad Aziz, a Kashmiri officer belonging to the Sudan tribe who orchestrated the overthrow of Nawaz Sharif as prime minister in October 1999.

Shah is also a close personal friend of many Punjabi leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League (Qaid e Azam), which is opposed to Benazir's return.

According to these sources, the suicide bomber or bombers managed to penetrate the security cordon of the police and IB officers without being frisked, but could not penetrate the inner cordon of security guards of the PPP. When stopped, they blew themselves up at a distance from her vehicle. At the time of the explosion, she had gone inside the vehicle to rest for a while. This seems to have contributed to her miraculous escape. Had she been standing on top she might have been injured, if not killed.

There are many elements in Pakistan, and in Karachi itself, which are opposed to her and are determined to prevent her return to power. These include the various jihadi terrorist groups, Al Qaeda [Images] and its allies, those involved in the kidnapping and murder of Daniel Pearl and the supporters of Dawood Ibrahim [Images], the Indian mafia leader who has been given shelter in Karachi by the Pakistani intelligence agencies. The anger against her is due to various reasons -- the fact that she is a woman, her close proximity to the US and her open statements supporting the US on various issues. They see her as the US cat's paw. It is difficult to say at present who might have been responsible for the attack on her.

Brig Ejaz Shah has been strongly criticised by Benazir and her supporters for the security failure and they have demanded his removal and arrest. When he was in the ISI, he used to be the handling officer of Osama bin Laden and Mulla Omar, the amir of the Taliban. After Musharraf seized power in October 1999, he had Shah posted as the home secretary of Punjab. It was to him that Omar Sheikh, who orchestrated the kidnapping and murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl, surrendered because Omar Sheikh knew him before and was confident that Ejaz Shah would see that he was not tortured.

After Pearl's murder, there were many allegations regarding Shah's role. Musharraf tried to protect him by sending him as the ambassador to Australia or Indonesia. Both the countries reportedly refused to accept him. Musharraf then made him the DG of IB and he saw to it that the death sentence against Omar Sheikh for his role in the Pearl case was not executed. The courts have been repeatedly postponing hearings on the appeal filed by Omar Sheikh against the death sentence.

Ejaz Shah played an active role in the campaign to discredit Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Caudhury of the Pakistan Supreme Court after he started calling for the files of a large number of missing persons who were taken into custody by the police and the intelligence agencies. Reliable sources in Pakistan reported that Gen Pervez Kiani, who was the DG of ISI at the time of the suspension of the Chief Justice, was against the suspension but Musharraf suspended him on the advice of Ejaz Shah and Maj Gen Nadim Taj, who was at that time head of the Directorate-General of Military Intelligence. Maj Gen Taj has since been promoted as Lt Gen and has succeeded Kiyani as the DG of ISI.

While the ISI under Kiyani refused to file any affidavit against the suspended Chief Justice before the court, the IB and the DGMI filed affidavits giving details of all the information which their organisations had indicating the alleged unsuitability of the Chief Justice to head the Supreme Court.

Despite the political embarrassment caused by the case, which ended in a fiasco, Ejaz Shah continues to enjoy Musharraf's total confidence.

(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com)

"When he was in the ISI, he used to be the handling officer of Osama bin Laden and Mulla Omar, the amir of the Taliban."

Does that say what I think it says? That Osama Bin Laden was handled by the ISI?

Letter to the author...

Hello. What does it mean to be Osama Bin Laden's "Handling Officer" for the Pakistani ISI? What is the responsibility of the person that has this particular job? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Jon Gold

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Gold9472

Letter to the author...

Hello. What does it mean to be Osama Bin Laden's "Handling Officer" for the Pakistani ISI? What is the responsibility of the person that has this particular job? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Jon Gold

---

Is that the letter you sent? Because if you didn't, I will. I'd like to know what "handling officer" means.

Yes.

Brig Ejaz Shah is not mentioned in the 9/11 Report.

His response...

The handling officer of a source in Indian and Pakistani intelligence agencies is the person who looks after the welfare of the source, keeps him motivated and uses him as needed. The source cannot meet anybody else other than his handling officer except the head of the agency. One source--one handling officer is the general rule. This is to prevent the exposure of the operation and maintain its deniability. I understand in the CIA they call him the Running Officer of a source.

Thanks.

Raman

I think it's supposed to be Brigadier Ejaz Shah. Brigadier is a title. I wonder if it's a military title.

Retired Brigadier supervising Benazir's security was Osama's handler, says expert

http://www.dailyindia.com/show/18409...er-says-expert

From our ANI Correspondent
10/19/2007

Chennai, Oct.19: The retired brigadier who was given the responsibility of securing former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's car journey through Karachi on Thursday, used to be the handling officer of Osama bin Laden and Taliban chief Mulla Omar when he was attached with the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

Disclosing this information in an article for the rediff website, former Additional Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat, B.Raman says that Brigadier (retired) Ejaz Shah, whose resignation is being demanded by Benazir Bhutto, is a close confidante of President General Pervez Musharraf.

Raman says that after Musharraf seized power on October 12, 1999, he had Shah posted as the Home Secretary of Punjab. He also says that Omar Sheikh, who orchestrated the kidnapping and murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl, surrendered before Shah because Omar Sheikh knew him before and was confident that Ejaz Shah would see that he was not tortured.

So close are the links between Shah and Musharraf that when several allegations were filed against him, Musharraf sought to send him as Ambassador to Australia or Indonesia. Both countries reportedly refused to accept him. Musharraf then made him the Director General of the Intelligence Bureau and he saw to it that the death sentence against Omar Sheikh for his role in the Pearl case was not executed.

The courts have been repeatedly postponing hearings on the appeal filed by Omar Sheikh against the death sentence.

Shah, according to Raman, also played an active role in the campaign to discredit Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Caudhury after he started calling for the files of a large number of missing persons who were taken into custody by the police and the intelligence agencies.

Shah is also a close personal friend of many Punjabi leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League (Qaid), which is opposed to Benazir's return.

According to these sources, the suicide bomber or bombers managed to penetrate the security cordon of the police and IB officers without being frisked, but could not penetrate the inner cordon of security guards of the PPP. When stopped on Thursday night, they blew themselves up at a distance from her vehicle. At the time of the explosion, Bhutto had gone inside the vehicle to rest for a while. This seems to have contributed to her miraculous escape. Had she been standing on top she might have been injured, if not killed?

Ijaz Shah appointed new IB chief

http://www.dawn.com/2004/02/26/top8.htm

By Our Staff Reporter
2/25/2004

ISLAMABAD, Feb 25: Intelligence Bureau director-general Col Bashir Wali (Rtd) has been replaced by ex-ISI officer Brig Ijaz Shah (Rtd). The outgoing director-general was promoted from the post of joint director of the IB to head the agency about a year ago.

He served as the IB director-general for almost a year when the establishment division issued his posting orders on Wednesday. "The incumbent has been asked to report to the establishment division," an official said when contacted by Dawn.

Ijaz Shah, said to be a trusted friend of President Gen Musharraf, has an experience of tackling the threat posed by militant organizations. The US has been persuading the government to crackdown on the right wing religious groups suspected of having links with Al-Qaeda. Mr Ijaz is expected to deliver quick results.

"Ijaz Shah would be on contract," another official said. Omar Sheikh, alleged mastermind of Daniel Pearl kidnapping, had surrendered to Brigadier Ijaz (Rtd) when he was serving as home secretary of Punjab. "The tenure of his contract will be determined later," an official said.

Did Daniel Pearl stumble upon ISI secrets?

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/c...art_id=3408476

11 Mar 2002, 0205 hrs IST,Siddharth Varadarajan,TNN

Islamabad: what did general pervez musharraf mean when he said that daniel pearl—the wall street journal correspondent who was kidnapped and killed by extremists in pakistan—had been over intrusive in areas he shouldn’t have been? the remark was vintage musharraf, delivered off-the-cuff during an impromptu press conference here thursday. and though there was no trace of menace in his voice, he was clearly stating that there were some areas which journalists should stay away from for their own good. "unfortunately", he said, "(pearl) got over-involved". but what exactly had pearl got himself "over-involved" in? though he was said to be working on a story about the pakistani linkages of richard reid—the shoe bomber who was overpowered by passengers on a us-bound flight in december—many local journalists feel pearl had stumbled across information which might have embarrassed the inter-services intelligence agency in some way. "we can only presume he came close to finding out the roots of some people with the isi,” said a senior columnist for the urdu daily, jang . "there were 3,000 western journalists who worked in or passed through pakistan during the us war on afghanistan, said one editor of a daily newspaper. "why was he the one picked up?" the editor echoed a theory which is quite popular among journalists here "that pearl might have been pursuing another, more damaging story than the one on richard reid: "it is possible he had come across some information about a few of the persons on india’s list of 20 terrorists. persons such as dawood ibrahim, for example". he pointed out that the first time an exposé on dawood’s karachi links was published in the pakistani magazine herald , the isi had picked up and interrogated two journalists, ghulam hasnain and amir ahmed khan, to try and find out the source of their story. though pakistani analysts doubt that pearl kidnapping had official sanction, they say the investigation will likely proceed “cautiously”. “i am not saying there will be a cover-up”, said one senior journalist. “but pakistan’s past policies (regarding the extremist groups) have left a large number of skeletons. once you begin investigating, you will start opening all kinds of doors”. even though they had nothing to do with pearl’s kidnapping, many people within the ruling establishment would not like matters to be probed very deeply, he said. one noted pakistani commentator told the times of india that the manner in which omar sheikh, the prime suspect in the pearl kidnapping, came into police custody itself spoke of these linkages. “he wasn’t arrested. rather, he turned himself in to the one man he trusted enormously, punjab home secretary brigadier ijaz shah, who is a retired isi man”. and what was omar’s connection with ijaz shah? “please re-read the diary omar sheikh wrote when he was in prison in india. it is full of adulatory references to the man who inspired him. and that man’s name was shah sahab.”

Ijaz Shah
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ijaz_Shah

Retired Brigadier Ijaz Shah is a Pakistani politician, a long-term close associate of Pervez Musharraf; Shah is a former Pakistan Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) official[1] and is currently the director-general of the Pakistani intelligence bureau; in his official capacity he was one of the individuals named as having received intelligence after the 2007 Karachi bombing at the return of Benazir Bhutto.

In his official capacity he has an active role in Pakistan's official campaign to discredit outspoken rape victim Mukhtar Mai. In December 2005 he travelled to Lahore to warn her American interpreter, Dr. Amna Buttar, an American citizen who has interpreted for Mukhtar in the U.S. with the chilling claim, reported by Nicholas D. Kristof of The New York Times, "We can do anything. ... We can just pay a little money to some black guys in New York and get people killed there."[2]

Shah was the ISI handling officer of the British-born international terrorist Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, convicted for the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl and part of the terrorist group Harkat-ul Mujahideen. In 1999, while serving a prison sentence for terrorist offence, Sheik had been released in exchange for the passengers of the hijacked Indian Airlines flight 814. In February 2002, cornered by Pakistani police under strong American diplomatic pressure, Omar Sheikh turned himself to his close confident Brig. Shah, who then was the Home Secretary of the Pakistani Punjab region: Shah briefed Sheikh for a full week before remanding him to police custody;[3] this famous "missing week" has never been accounted for in public.

In 2004, Musharraf's attempt to appoint Shah as High Commissioner to Australia was rejected in a highly unusual move by Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs department. Instead Musharraf appointed him to head Pakistani intelligence, 25 February 2004, transferring his predecessor, Wali Muhammad.[4]

Holy shit. Great work, Jon. This is really great work. I'm going to check with another source about this "handling officer" charge, to see if I elicit some more information (context mostly).

Again, great job.

Thanks...

http://prisonplanet.com/articles/nov...1107_b_isi.htm

http://www.yourbbsucks.com/forum/osamahandling.gif

I contacted a journalist who specializes in that part of the world, but he didn't have anything useful to add. I'm surprised, because the admission in that story is quite definitive: Bin Laden was an intelligence source for the ISI.

Aren't you a bit surprised by Raman's response, which rather casually defines "handling officer"? Isn't the real story in his story buried? The revelation about OBL doesn't appear until the sixth paragraph. Seems odd, given it is the headline news.

If the story is a plant, what could be its purpose? It seems to connect both Bhutto and Musharraf to OBL. And we know both are allies of the US.

I'm just trying to understand why that detail appears in that story, which is otherwise largely about the suicide bombing that almost killed Bhutto. The headline seems to emphasize a detail that is relatively unimportant, the way it is written up.

I wonder if it is a veiled threat to Bush? (I know: Sounds like an overactive imagination on my part...)

You sound like a conspiracy theorist. :) I don't know what it means other than Osama was an asset for the ISI. It does open up a whole new set of questions though...

Shit, you just pwnt the ISI. AND you got on Prison Planet.

double ownage

Quote:

---

Aren't you a bit surprised by Raman's response, which rather casually defines "handling officer"? Isn't the real story in his story buried? The revelation about OBL doesn't appear until the sixth paragraph. Seems odd, given it is the headline news.

---

I'm obviously no expert, but here's my 2 cents: Back in the day, the ISI supporting bin Laden and the Taliban wasn't a big deal since they weren't considered threats or doing anything, so supporting them was well known within the Pakistani/CIA/whatever circle. So now that bin Laden/Taliban are considered world wide threats, that info is buried over here since no one really knew anyways, but in Pakistan it's common knowledge.

So it wasn't a big deal in reporting that like "yeah, he was bin Laden's handelding officer from the ISI", instead of, "oh shit! I just found out that he was bin Laden's handeling officer from the ISI!"

Just my opinion.

Pakistan spy service 'aiding Bin Laden'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1734113.stm

Sunday, 30 December, 2001, 10:41 GMT

Afghan interior minister Younis Qanooni has accused the Pakistani secret service of helping al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden flee Afghanistan.

Speaking in an interview with Iranian television, Mr Qanooni said the Pakistani ISI (Inter Services Intelligence) was at odds over Bin Laden with the Pakistani Government, which has supported the American-led war against terror.

"Undoubtedly they (ISI) knew what was going on," he said.

"The fact that there have not been any reactions and that he has not been arrested indicates that he is somehow being supported by the Pakistani ISI."

Successful 'game'
Mr Qanooni said that Bin Laden and his followers were constantly on the move between his country and Pakistan, despite continuing searches by American troops.

"Osama has been successful in playing his own game," he said.

"He has eluded the tactics that they (the Americans) have chosen because...he has not stayed in one area."

An Afghan defence ministry spokesman suggested last week that Bin Laden had crossed from the Tora Bora region into Pakistan the week before.

But Pakistan Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar said his government "had no information whatsoever" that Bin Laden was in the country.

Mr Qanooni's comments come as US investigators stepped up efforts to track down Osama Bin Laden by questioning more than 200 members of his al-Qaeda network.

US planes have also continued sporadic bombardments of the Tora Bora region in a bid to flush out remaining al-Qaeda forces.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by simuvac

I'm just trying to understand why that detail appears in that story, which is otherwise largely about the suicide bombing that almost killed Bhutto. The headline seems to emphasize a detail that is relatively unimportant, the way it is written up.

---

Well in hindsight, Bhutto "suicide bombing" v.2.0 was much more successful than v.1.0. There seems to be considerable recent ambiguity/"damage control" about gunshots, bomb blast wave, etc. Deja vu or ?? CT what??

And [our] troops go marching in...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by simuvac

I'm just trying to understand why that detail appears in that story, which is otherwise largely about the suicide bombing that almost killed Bhutto. The headline seems to emphasize a detail that is relatively unimportant, the way it is written up.

---

"As I began researching I noticed this curious phenomenon which is that there's a lot of explosive information that has come out in the mainstream press, but it comes out buried. As a casual observer of the news, I'd never noticed any of this stuff. You might find one important bit of information in say a newspaper story, and another bit of information on a news show. And if you start to put all those rather obscure stories together, you end up with an almost a completely different narrative. For just about any area relating to 9/11, the story is quite different if you dig deeper into the news." - Paul Thompson, 9/11: Press For Truth