Billionaire at heart of Pakistan political crisis offered RAW help with ISI

[IndoCarib]

Ijaz met former RAW chief Sahay, claiming to have blessings of White House to broker a secret India-Pakistan deal on J&K

Mansoor Ijaz, the billionaire businessman now at the heart of a scandal that is threatening to bring down Pakistan's democratic government, had earlier approached India's intelligence services with an offer to broker peace between New Delhi and jihadists linked to the Inter Services Intelligence Directorate, highly placed government sources have told The Hindu.

The billionaire businessman, the sources said, made contact with C.D. Sahay—who went on to serve as RAW's chief from 2003 to 2005 —claiming to have the blessings of the White House to broker a secret India-Pakistan deal on Jammu and Kashmir.

In October this year, Mr. Ijaz revealed that Husain Haqqani, Islamabad's ambassador to the United States, had recruited him into plot to ease Pakistan's generals out of positions of power. He went public with a memo calling on the United States to help Pakistan's government rid itself of the Army, and then made over evidence of his conversations with Mr. Haqqani to the ISI's chief, General Shuja Pasha.

President Asif Ali Zardari has since been forced to recall Mr. Haqqani—and many analysts believe what is being called “MemoGate” could end in a frontal showdown between the military and the elected government.

Mr. Ijaz's Kashmir mission reveals the businessman had a long history of participating in political intrigue — but failing to deliver on his promises, and then falling out with partners in public.

Ijaz's Mission Kashmir

Mr. Ijaz's offer came even as key Hizb ul-Mujahideen commander Abdul Majid Dar and former RAW chief A.S. Dulat were engaged in secret discussions aimed at bringing about a ceasefire. Mr. Dar and Mr. Dulat, the sources said, met in the United Arab Emirates after the Kargil war. Srinagar-based sources close to Mr. Dar admitted the meeting took place, but said it came about after the jihad commander experienced a spiritual epiphany while caught among a crush of pilgrims in Mecca.

Less than a fortnight after the July 25, 2000, ceasefire announcement, though the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen's Pakistan-backed chief, Muhammad Yusuf Shah, backed out under ISI pressure—sparking off a bitter internecine war that would claim the lives of several members of the hardline faction, as well as Mr. Dar himself.

Eight weeks before the ceasefire, Mr. Ijaz was flown to Srinagar under RAW escort, where he met with top officials including then-XV corps commander Lieutenant-General Kishan Pal and Director-General of Police Gurbachan Jagat. Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah hosted a dinner for the businessman on May 10, 2000.

In a November 22 article in the International Herald Tribune, Mr. Ijaz claimed credit for having organised the ceasefire, saying he implored Pakistan's military ruler, General Pervez Musharraf, to “persuade the Mujahideen under his control to opt for non-violent means”. In the course of a three hour meeting, Mr. Ijaz wrote, “I told him that every civilian I met in Kashmir earlier that month had tired as much of the incessant violence imparted by Pakistan's militia forces.”

The ceasefire, Mr. Ijaz's account of events has it, fell apart, after “Pakistan's Islamic fundamentalists got wind of the proposal”. General Musharraf in turn “got cold feet”.

Mr. Sahay, RAW sources said, received calls from Mr. Ijaz on several subsequent occasions—one time, claiming to have the former head of Pakistan's Jamaat-e-Islami, Qazi Husain Ahmad, on the line.

RAW's opinion, however, was that Mr. Ijaz did not have the influence to deliver on promises he made. His claims to have had a role in organising the ceasefire caused amusement

The Sudan affair

India's spies weren't the only players to lose faith in Mr. Ijaz. In the 1990s, Mr. Ijaz—who runs an investment bank in New York, and was a major donor to the Democratic party—claimed to have been relaying messages from Sudan's Islamist government to the White House. Mr. Ijaz later wrote his mission had given the United States an opportunity to eliminate Osama bin-Laden.

Key administration officials have since attacked these claims. Susan Rice, now the United States' ambassador to the United Nations, said Mr. Ijaz brought the administration of President Bill Clinton offers of counter-terrorism cooperation from Sudan—but that they never materialised.

The Hindu : News / National : Billionaire at heart of Pakistan political crisis offered RAW help with ISI-linked jihadists

 

[mohsinkid]

as far as i have known he used to give lecture in boston univ US about , j1hdis win-gs of \s| . shayad as a guest invite karna cha raha ho ga wo Sahay ko

 

[Tangent]

..There will be many more NEWS(?) linking anyone close to present to govt in pakistan to RAW.....as there seems to be a concentrated effort to bring down present govt.
..If U want to defame anybody ...just link to RAW, India, Narendra Modi...
very effective....and time tested method in pakistan...

 

[blain2]

What billionaire? If he was one, he would not be involved in such drama.

"RAW's opinion, however, was that Mr. Ijaz did not have the influence to deliver on promises he made. His claims to have had a role in organising the ceasefire caused amusement"

This is the opinion that everyone, whosoever has dealt with Ijaz, has. This chap is looking out for himself only. There is no higher compulsion than self promotion for him.

 

[pak-marine]

like the unsucesful J&K attempt Mr Ijaz is trying level best to provoke tensions amoung civilians govt and military ...... he is definatly a stooge question is whose ... ?

 

[Pakistanisage]

Mansoor Ijaz seems to be suffering from Delusions and Narcissism.

 

[TruthSeeker]

Mansoor Ijaz, from Wikipedia:

Mansoor Ijaz (born 1961) is an American businessman of Pakistani Ancestry. He is an investment banker and media commentator, mostly in relation to Pakistan, Iraq and Afghanistan. [1]. He is the founder and chairman of Crescent Investment Management LLC, a New York investment partnership since 1990 that includes retired General James Alan Abrahamson, former director of President Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative. Ijaz has had ties to former CIA Director James Woolsey. Ijaz is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Mansoor Ijaz was born in Tallahassee, Florida and grew up on a farm in rural Virginia.[2] Ijaz received his bachelor's degree in nuclear physics from the University of Virginia in 1983 and master's degree in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1985, where he was trained as a neural sciences engineer. His father, Dr. Mujaddid Ahmad Ijaz, was a theoretical physicist who played a major role in nuclear deterrence development throughout 1970s and 1980s, and was a pioneering figure in the designing of the weapons.

Ijaz developed CARAT, a currency, interest rate and equity risk management system. He started his own investment firm in 1990. Away from Crescent's daily business affairs, Ijaz serves on the College Foundation Board of Trustees at the University of Virginia and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Fox News analyst on Special Report

Mansoor Ijaz was a Fox News Analyst and played a popular role on Special Report. . He was the most popular guest on the show and appeared on Fox more than 100 occasions. Ijaz would articulate opinions in support of the Bush White House and neo-conservative foreign policy. [5]

Iran Nuke Exclusive

In 2006, in an interview with Gulf News, he made the world exclusive claim that Iran already had a nuclear bomb and that US think-tanks were already formulating strategies to overthrow the Iranian Government [6]

Mansoor Ijaz - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[TVVELVEMO$]

The burning question is what does multi-talented Mr Mansoor Ejaz want?
He is a lobbyist/power broker who has assiduously courted both parties in DC. His primarily pursues mega money deals which usually are Defence or Big Oil interests. His black berry acquaintances include Gen Jim Jones, James Woolsey and other Big-Game players. He is rumored to be in the know of some major Energy movers & shakers perhaps even some Texans!
It is clear that the harebrained Haqqani supped with the malevolent Mansoor until last spring, making common cause in spouting harebrained schemes in International diplomacy. Mostly these did not succeed. But it seems mM did some thinking and perhaps consulted some very powerful and rich people this summer and decided to re-purpose his 'memo' scheme.
Let's look at some facts.
mM is a self-avowed critic of Pakistan military and ISI. He claims to have plotted with hH in bringing down the top tier of Pakistan military. He has met Pasha in London. His original expose was garden variety Anti-Pakistan piece. Since then he is craftily changing his assault to get the desired effect on Pakistani media and the people. As he fine tunes the crescendo of his apparently one-man crusade on his parents' home country, homeboy has no problem in getting himself invited to a more well-known media platform in each subsequent graduation. His talk with Zakaria was telling this Sunday. Now that he has scalped hH, he is gunning for Zardari. Whaaat? you say?.....Think about it. He now wants to clean out the "rot" in Pakistan. Sometime ago a 'great' friend of Pakistan used same language to describe Peoples Party administration. (Wikileaks).
Now ask yourselves who in Pakistan has taken the most umbrage at this memo? Enough to walk out of his usual place of work and storm to the building that supposedly looks like an open book? Now ask yourselves who are the one or two connecting dots between mM and this gentlman?
If I were a betting man (which I ain't), I would bet my peniltimate dollar that this is all about Pakistan's power alignment with one source of energy vs the other and all the good things that follow for few 'pure' men.
My problem is that except for a few individuals in US everyone else is perplexed and way behind the curve. This may yet be another disaster-in-the-making while Potus is reading 'Descent Into Chaos' and the US gets blamed.
Wake up people! you are being played by a great friend!
(Caveat emptor:- TIFWIW)

 

[TVVELVEMO$]

Before I lose interest; mM is running his version of mockingbird. A bizzare version with unintended consequences.

 

[Developereo]

Whenever Mansoor Ijaz is involved, it's always worthwhile to keep this CNN article in mind.

What's behind the furor in Pakistan? - CNN.com

Clinton administration officials did not take Ijaz up on any of his offers to help because they viewed him as "a Walter Mitty living out a personal fantasy,"
[...]
Ijaz now concedes, "This was an erroneous report based on information I had received from a former intelligence official on the ground in Iraq. I did not second source this story."
[...]
Ijaz also told CNN, "I have written over 170 op-ed columns, [...]" (Ijaz has written one op-ed for CNN.com).
[...]
Ijaz responded, "I can just tell you that the source is unimpeachable. It is from inside Iran. These are eyewitness accounts."
There was, of course, nothing to this story. Ijaz now says, "At the time I made it, I believed the source who had given the data to me."
[...]
Five years later, Iran still does not have a nuclear weapon, but Ijaz asserted to CNN, "They had in my view then, and it remains my view now, at least one nuclear weapon stored in component parts."
[...]
Ijaz provided no evidence for this claim, and the idea that the Bush administration would do a deal to let bin Laden go free is ludicrous on its face. Ijaz told CNN "I stand by my comments, taken in full context, throughout that article."