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Afghan President Under Pressure to Scrap Intel Deal With Pakistan

by Ayaz Gul May 20, 2015

Former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has demanded the government in Kabul immediately cancel an accord recently signed between spy agencies of Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan for enhancing joint anti-terrorism efforts.

In a written statement released Wednesday, Karzai expressed "serious concerns" over last week's memorandum of understanding the Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS) concluded with the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) last week.

​​Karzai urged his successor, President Ashraf Ghani, to refuse signing another document in the future that is "against the national interests" of Afghanistan.

Lawmakers also want deal scrapped

Meanwhile, a majority of the Afghan lawmakers during Wednesday's session of the lower house of the parliament again demanded the Ghani government scrap the deal. They also asked top NDS officials, together with the Afghan national security advisor, to appear before the House and explain their position.

​​Afghan media has reported that NDS chief Rahmatullah Nabil also opposed the MoU with the Pakistani ISI and left if for his deputy to sign the document. Nabil has, so far, not commented on the reports.

However, a spokesman for Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah has dismissed the criticism, saying the national unity government has no intention to scrap the deal. The spokesman, Mujib Rahman Rahimi, tells VOA that both Pakistan and Afghanistan are jointly working on making certain changes to the signed document in response to the criticism.

"We are still working on that and we are quite happy to cooperate [with Pakistan] in fighting terrorism, which is a common threat against both countries. The deal will not be scraped but there will be some amendments to it. I think while the two countries need to cooperate there should be some mechanism for cooperation and that memorandum of understanding is a step forward to that direction. There is no intention to step back or reverse [the MoU].

Rahimi also suggested the parliamentary criticism is premature because the NDS and ISI merely signed MoU and not a treaty. He said Afghanistan hopes to continue with steps it has taken with regard to the cooperation between the two countries.

Old suspicions

The Afghan outrage at the deal stems from long-running suspicions and allegations the Pakistani ISI has been for years fueling the conflict in Afghanistan by training and arming the Taliban insurgency. Pakistani authorities in recent years have also repeatedly accused the Afghan intelligence service of sheltering anti-Pakistan extremists.

However, President Ghani's advisors and officials in neighboring Pakistan are defending the understanding reached between NDS and ISI, saying it will help in effectively countering terrorist forces operating on both sides of their long porous border.

Islamabad and Kabul have hailed the accord between ISI and NDS as a path-breaking deal and say it is the outcome of an increased cooperation in recent months between their country's mutually hostile and suspicious security establishments.

Step in the right direction

Former U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter describes the MoU between Afghan and Pakistani intelligence institutions as "a very good step."

"I can only say that when I read news such as that the head of ISI has just come back from Kabul after meeting with his counterpart to talk about security in the region, that's very good news. That's the kind of thing that is very important that the leadership of the military, the intelligence deals in good relations with its neighbors. I have just a very positive feeling that when you talk to each other you avoid mistakes."

​​Munter served as U.S. ambassador in Pakistan in those years when Islamabad's relations with Kabul and Washington had plunged to record lows over allegations the ISI was allowing the Haqqani network of insurgents and fugitive Afghan Taliban commanders to use sanctuaries in Pakistani border areas for attacks in Afghanistan.

Pakistan military spokesman Major-General Asim Bajwa said this week the MoU requires the two intelligence agencies "share intelligence, and [conduct] complementary and coordinated operations on respective sides".

The deal was signed shortly after Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif concluded a visit to Kabul last week, where he condemned Taliban attacks as terrorist actions and told President Ghani that "enemies of Afghanistan cannot be friends of Pakistan."