'No convincing denial from Pak of Headley charges against ISI'

From Lalit K Jha
Washington, Jun 4 (PTI) More than a week after David
Headley accused ISI of training him in terrorist operation and
espionage system, there has been no "convincing" denial from
Pakistan, a top US counter-terrorism expert has said,
underscoring the need to hold that country "very accountable".
"We haven't seen any convincing denials from Pakistan.
We haven't seen to my knowledge, any investigations as to who
this Major Iqbal is and what his role is.
"... this is another area where we need to hold
Pakistan very accountable," Bruce Hoffman, Director at the
Centre for Peace and Security Studies, a Washington-based
eminent think-tank, told lawmakers at a Congressional hearing
on terrorist threats emanating from Pakistan.
Deposing before a Chicago court as a star witness in
the US vs Tahawwur Rana case, Headley claimed that he was an
agent of the ISI, to the effect that one of his ISI handlers
'Major Iqbal' not only knew of the Mumbai plot but also made
absolutely no effort to stop the plans of LeT to target
American citizens, both at the Jewish Chabad House and the Taj
hotel, Hoffman said.
Pakistan has denied those charges, which Hoffman said
are not convincing at all.
Congressman Michael McCaul, who currently serves as
the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations
and Management, said: "It's a great point. How many other of
these wanted terrorists are being provided with safe haven by
Pakistan, who we provide so much aid to and purportedly work
together with to eradicate the terrorists."
"I think it also calls into question, as we go into
the appropriations cycle, the billions of dollars we provide
to Pakistan in foreign aid. We've known they've played this
game for quite some time.
"And I believe they need to be held accountable. We
need some answers as to whether they were complicit with this
or not," McCaul, whose subcommittee has oversight jurisdiction
of all Department of Homeland Security operations, said.
Hoffman alleged that the cooperation from Pakistan is
slackening rather than increasing.
"The number of US military trainers in Pakistan has
decreased. The number of CIA intelligence operatives has also
decreased. So I think it's really the strength of cooperation.
"In some of these things the metrics may be able to be
publicly stated but the reporting of them may have to remain
classified, but I think these are enormously illustrative of
the degree and extent that Pakistan is sincere about
cooperation against terrorism," he said.
"I think that the problem is that from the Pakistani
perspective, they believe that in essence, they have us over
the barrel. They know that we require their cooperation, but
yet I think it's been either a blank check during the
Musharraf time -- or now what they see as an open checkbook.
So I think it's our only leverage that we can exert over
them," Hoffman said.