Who killed Maj. Gen Alvi?

[Kursed]

This is what our army is all about. =)

UK may help find Pakistani general’s killers
Carey Schofield

The brother-in-law of VS Naipaul, the British novelist and Nobel laureate, was murdered last month after threatening to expose Pakistani army generals who had made deals with Taliban militants.

Major-General Faisal Alavi, a former head of Pakistan’s special forces, whose sister Nadira is Lady Naipaul, named two generals in a letter to the head of the army. He warned that he would “furnish all relevant proof”.

Aware that he was risking his life, he gave a copy to me and asked me to publish it if he was killed. Soon afterwards he told me that he had received no reply.

“It hasn’t worked,” he said. “They’ll shoot me.”

Four days later, he was driving through Islamabad when his car was halted by another vehicle. At least two gunmen opened fire from either side, shooting him eight times. His driver was also killed.

This weekend, as demands grew for a full investigation into Alavi’s murder on November 18, Lady Naipaul described her brother as “a soldier to his toes”. She said: “He was an honourable man and the world was a better place when he was in it.”

It was in Talkingfish, his favourite Islamabad restaurant, that the general handed me his letter two months ago. “Read this,” he said.

Alavi had been his usual flamboyant self until that moment, smoking half a dozen cigarettes as he rattled off jokes and gossip and fielded calls on two mobile phones.

Three years earlier this feted general, who was highly regarded by the SAS, had been mysteriously sacked as head of its Pakistani equivalent, the Special Services Group, for “conduct unbecoming”. The letter, addressed to General Ashfaq Kayani, the chief of army staff, was a final attempt to have his honour restored.

Alavi believed he had been forced out because he was openly critical of deals that senior generals had done with the Taliban. He disparaged them for their failure to fight the war on terror wholeheartedly and for allowing Taliban forces based in Pakistan to operate with impunity against British and other Nato troops across the border in Afghanistan.

Alavi, who had dual British and Pakistani nationality, named the generals he accused. He told Kayani that the men had cooked up a “mischievous and deceitful plot” to have him sacked because they knew he would expose them.

“The entire purpose of this plot by these general officers was to hide their own involvement in a matter they knew I was privy to,” he wrote. He wanted an inquiry, at which “I will furnish all relevant proof/ information, which is readily available with me”.

I folded up the letter and handed it back to him. “Don’t send it,” I said. He replied that he had known I would talk him out of it so he had sent it already. “But”, he added, “I want you to keep this and publish it if anything happens to me.”

I told him he was a fool to have sent the letter: it would force his enemies into a corner. He said he had to act and could not leave it any longer: “I want justice. And I want my honour restored. And you know what? I [don’t] give a damn what they do to me now. They did their worst three years ago.”

We agreed soon afterwards that it would be prudent for him to avoid mountain roads and driving late at night. He knew the letter might prove to be his death warrant.

Four days after I last saw him, I was in South Waziristan, a region bordering Afghanistan, to see a unit from the Punjab Regiment. It was early evening when I returned to divisional headquarters and switched on the television. It took me a moment to absorb the horror of the breaking news running across the screen: “Retired Major General Faisal Alavi and driver shot dead on way to work.”

The reports blamed militants, although the gunmen used 9mm pistols, a standard army issue, and the killings were far more clinical than a normal militant attack.

The scene at the army graveyard in Rawalpindi a few days after that was grim. Soldiers had come from all over the country to bury the general with military honours. Their grief was palpable. Wreaths were laid on behalf of Kayani and most of the country’s military leadership.

Friends and family members were taken aback to be told by serving and retired officers alike that “this was not the militants; this was the army”. A great many people believed the general had been murdered to shut him up.

I first met Alavi in April 2005 at the Pakistan special forces’ mountain home at Cherat, in the North West Frontier Province, while working on a book about the Pakistani army.

He told me he had been born British in Kenya, and that his older brother had fought against the Mau Mau. His affection for Britain was touching and his patriotism striking.

In August 2005 he was visiting Hereford, the home of the SAS, keen to revive the SSG’s relationship with British special forces and deeply unhappy about the way some elements of Pakistan’s army were behaving.

He told me how one general had done an astonishing deal with Baitullah Mehsud, the 35-year-old Taliban leader, now seen by many analysts as an even greater terrorist threat than Osama Bin Laden.

Mehsud, the main suspect in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto late last year, is also believed to have been behind a plot to bomb transport networks in several European countries including Britain, which came to light earlier this year when 14 alleged conspirators were arrested in Barcelona.

Yet, according to Alavi, a senior Pakistani general came to an arrangement with Mehsud “whereby – in return for a large sum of money – Mehsud’s 3,000 armed fighters would not attack the army”.

The two senior generals named in Alavi’s letter to Kayani were in effect complicit in giving the militants free rein in return for refraining from attacks on the Pakistani army, he said. At Hereford, Alavi was brutally frank about the situation, said the commanding officer of the SAS at that time.

“Alavi was a straight-talking soldier and some pretty robust conversations took place in the mess,” he said. “He wanted kit, skills and training from the UK. But he was asked, pretty bluntly, why the Pakistani army should be given all this help if nothing came of it in terms of getting the Al-Qaeda leadership.”

Alavi’s response was typically candid, the SAS commander said: “He knew that Pakistan was not pulling its weight in the war on terror.”

It seemed to Alavi that, with the SAS on his side, he might win the battle, but he was about to lose everything. His enemies were weaving a Byzantine plot, using an affair with a divorced Pakistani woman to discredit him.

Challenged on the issue, Alavi made a remark considered disrespectful to General Pervez Musharraf, then the president. His enemies playeda recording of it to Musharraf and Alavi was instantly sacked.

His efforts to clear his name began with a request that he be awarded the Crescent of Excellence, a medal he would have been given had he not been dismissed. Only after this was denied did he write the letter that appears to many to have sealed his fate.

It was an action that the SAS chief understands: “Every soldier, in the moment before death, craves to be recognised. It seems reasonable to me that he staked everything on his honour. The idea that it is better to be dead than dishonoured does run deep in soldiers.”

Alavi’s loyalty to Musharraf never faltered. Until his dying day he wanted his old boss to understand that. He also trusted Kayani implicitly, believing him to be a straight and honourable officer.

If investigations eventually prove that Alavi was murdered at the behest of those he feared within the military, it may prove a fatal blow to the integrity of the army he loved.

Britain and the United States need to know where Pakistan stands. Will its army and intelligence agencies ever be dependable partners in the war against men such as Mehsud?

James Arbuthnot, chairman of the defence select committee, and Lord Guthrie, former chief of the defence staff, were among those who expressed support this weekend for British help to be offered in the murder investigation.

Inside the Pakistan Army by Carey Schofield will be published next year by Soap Box Books.

[Dr.Farhan]

Assention and dessesnion among army ranks is as normal as a college teacher in a university.. so it was just retailiation from the general and nothing more.. had he been given the cresent of excellence medal and not sacked, he would be as merry and silent about such issues as anyother general of similiar rank..

why he was shot is quite simple to understand and no fault can be blamed on army..the army of ANY country has its secrets, bright and dark, and leakage of such deals and secrets is not only a crime,its mutiny and the person is a national level traitor.. and thus army will have to take action on i no matter what the consequences..

even if one general had made dea with mehsud that for money exchenge, they would not fight our army, isnt that a good thing?.. just dont consider the US perspective and the British view on it.. consider our own limted resources and the problems of terrorism on borders and inside pakistan which would have shook our very foundation if those militants were to raid free anywhere..

saving our own hide is far more important than any other NATO or US operation, cuz our own lives come first, only after a person is alive can he take any apropriate action. a dead person cant do anything..

alavi might have been right on various issues.. but the Number 1 rule of any army is Follow Order, No questions... if he questioned and went against the army laws, he should have been court marshalled and punished instead of just being sacked..and such a person is not a soldier..after his sacking, what he did was just a jealous or scorned man`s revenge..nothing else...

while this issue should be investigated, this ismt one of the DARKEST CHAPTERS of our army, as you smiley might convey it as.. the army is not a schho college or Assembly hall.. its protocols are very difrent and strict..you either live and follow the rules or you die...

[towelie]

Being a former SSG guy he should've known what was would happen to him if he leaked state secrets.

Former CIA employees have to get a review / approval from the CIA before publishing any books/articles even after retirement.

The deal with Mehsud is shameful, but Gen. Alvi's mutiny is too .....

[crippler]

All these talibans and baitullah masud only understand language of money. Which is why when they were heavily funded by foriegn powers, they fought like crazy and in my opinion, you can only fight fire with fire. The Pak generals should have given him money and then called a truce and then brought him in and killed him. Thats how it should have been. There is no religion in this war, its all about money and power.

On the other hand, yes, there is a huge possibility that he was silenced by one of his own but he should have also understood that since the code of military is to obey orders, no general can work on his own to offer money to anyone in return of cease fire or truce. It has to come from the very top so Kiani not replying to his letter is understandable as he would have already known what went on.

[abid]

Carey, I like to share some information about General Alve,it may help.

[crippler]

please do share abid...

[Kursed]

Interesting?

KARACHI: With the arrest of ex-army majors who are activists of Harkatul Mujahideen, has resolved various high profile cases including the mysterious murder of Major General (Retd) Ameer Faisal Alvi, the former General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the elite Special Services Group of (SSG), Pakistan Army, sources privy to matter told Daily Times.

The arrest of Major (Retd) Haroon Rasheed by the Rawalpindi Motorway police took place when he was transferring a kidnapped local trader to Waziristan. During the course of investigation, Rasheed revealed that his brother, Captain Khurram, left the forces to join a militant organisation and was killed by international security forces in Afghanistan. He further confessed that he had kidnapped four people, including prominent filmmaker Satish Anand, from Karachi in order to get ransom money to support the militant organisation.

Daily Times

[formerp]

Originally Posted by KuRsEd

Interesting?



Daily Times

The fruits of General Zia's Radaclization of Pakistan Army as well as Pakistan Society.I hope he rots in hell.

[An_igma]

Recent crackdowns are quite heartening; at last our police and security agencies seem to be doing something. Still, much more intensity is required, and Govt along with Army need to confront the problem at both fronts … seriously if the resolve is there, this should not be much of a problem. Zia transformed the entire outlook of our society in less than a decade, there’s no reason why it can’t be reverted in the same time period.

[talibaan]

Originally Posted by crippler

All these talibans and baitullah masud only understand language of money. Which is why when they were heavily funded by foriegn powers, they fought like crazy and in my opinion, you can only fight fire with fire. The Pak generals should have given him money and then called a truce and then brought him in and killed him. Thats how it should have been. There is no religion in this war, its all about money and power.

On the other hand, yes, there is a huge possibility that he was silenced by one of his own but he should have also understood that since the code of military is to obey orders, no general can work on his own to offer money to anyone in return of cease fire or truce. It has to come from the very top so Kiani not replying to his letter is understandable as he would have already known what went on.

Are you somehow a distant relative of Baitullah?? you speak of him with such surety? Zaid hamid perhaps?

[TsAr]

Guys this is what international politics is all about......Its very complicated.......Have you guys seen "Munich"..........Americans were siding with israel but they were also supporting Palestinian Fighters and paying them and providing them security so they will not harm American diplomats.......Same way Pakistan is also supporting the USA in war of terror but it cannot fully desert the Talibans......Don't forget Indians are meddling in the affairs of afghanistan.....there agents are present in afghanistan and are creatingproblems for Pakistan.....We need talibans to fight Indians insurgency....

[AhmedKhan]

Originally Posted by crippler

All these talibans and baitullah masud only understand language of money. Which is why when they were heavily funded by foriegn powers, they fought like crazy and in my opinion, you can only fight fire with fire. The Pak generals should have given him money and then called a truce and then brought him in and killed him. Thats how it should have been. There is no religion in this war, its all about money and power.

On the other hand, yes, there is a huge possibility that he was silenced by one of his own but he should have also understood that since the code of military is to obey orders, no general can work on his own to offer money to anyone in return of cease fire or truce. It has to come from the very top so Kiani not replying to his letter is understandable as he would have already known what went on.

There is a lot of things Pak Generals "should have" done and this happens to be just one of them.

You will not find such "deals" made by politcians. Worst case was when Benazir handed over the list of Sikhs. They weren't Pakistanis anyway. Sleeping with the enemy...that's different.

P.S.
I tried my best to comply with my promise of 3 posts . If you think this doesn't count, let me know.