Fai admits he took money from ISI

From Lalit K Jha
Washington, Jul 27 (PTI) Kashmiri separatist leader
Ghulam Nabi Fai, accused of being an ISI agent and funnelling
its money into the US to influence American lawmakers on
Kashmir, has admitted to taking money from Pakistan's spy
agency, but claimed that he never toed its line.
During his detention hearing at the US District Court in
Alexandria, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, the prosecution
said that Fai, the head of Kashmiri American Council, had
admitted to receiving funds from the Inter-Services
Intelligence (ISI).
His attorneys, Nina Ginsberg and Khurram Wahid, claimed
that though Fai took money from ISI, he never toed their line,
a statement which was strongly contested by the federal
prosecutors during the court hearing yesterday.
The federal prosecutors told the court that 62-year-old
Fai not only received USD four million from ISI, but also
strictly followed their agenda on Kashmir.
Responding to questions from the defence attorney,
Special FBI Agent Sarah Webb Linden told the court that Fai's
agenda was heavily dictated by the ISI.
In fact, for his every meeting, agenda and speeches,
he received bullet points from his ISI handlers in Pakistan.
Fai did, what "ISI asked him to do," she said.
US Attorney Gordon Kromberg said that Fai has been a
ISI agent for the past two decades.
He told the court that during his interrogation after
his arrest on July 19, Fai acknowledged to his links with ISI
and having received money from the Pakistani spy agency.
Fai's attorneys argued that taking money from ISI does
not mean that he toed their line.
Fai, who was arrested by FBI last week, was released on a
USD 100,000 bond and under house arrest with a radio tag
around his ankle for electronic surveillance. PTI LKJ
ASR