Daily Times

KARACHI: Over 50 nationals, including various agents of the CIA and the notorious Blackwater security agency, now operating as XE, were granted visas by Pakistan embassy, and the consulate in the United Arab Emirates in 2010, reliable intelligence sources told Daily Times vindicating Pakistan’s former ambassador to the United States that he had issued facilitated the CIA agents on the directives of the then PPP government.

Haqqani, who had served as Pakistan’s envoy to Washington from —2008to—2001-disclosed in his article in Washington Post that he had been asked by the Obama administration to help station US Special Operations and intelligence personnel on the ground in Pakistan.

“I brought the request directly to Pakistan’s civilian leaders, who approved”, the former ambassador wrote.

According to the sources, the visas issued by the Pakistan embassy in Abu Dhabi, and consulate in Dubai, had initially been denied by Pakistani missions in US, and UK.

“Over a dozen of US nationals, who have been issued visas by Pakistan embassy in UAE, had already been denied visas by our embassy in Washington on the suspicion of having links with the intelligence agencies and the Blackwater”, a source said.

These US nationals’ visa applications had been rejected after the secret agencies refused to clear them, he added.

Ironically, the visas in question had been issued in clear contravention of a ban imposed on February 23,2010, by the government barring all the Pakistani missions from issuing visa to any diplomat or common citizen outside his country of origin without prior permission from the interior and the defense ministries.

Sources claimed that these visas had been issued by Khursheed Ahmad Junejo, a veteran PPP stalwart, and the then ambassador to the UAE, on the directives of the Owais Tappi, a close aide of Mr Zardari who claims to be his brother.

Sources said that visas to these foreign nationals were issued for 6 months to two years period whereas as per the policy directives, even cleared by the concerned ministries, no visa could be issued for more than 90 days. This, sources said, had been done on the directives of ambassador Junejo, who used to take care of Owais Tappi’s business, and in recognition of his services, he had been nominated for the post of district nazim Larkana in2002 local bodies polls, and later ambassador to UAE, regardless of the fact that he had no diplomatic experience whatsoever.

More specifically, in case of UAE, Pakistani missions there are not competent to issue visas to a person of any third country, however the former ambassador, and a so-called brother of President Zardari, had not merely made the mockery of foreign office rules and regulations, but also jeopardized the national security by issuing visas to foreign suspects, sources maintained.