Director General of Pakistan's spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Lt Gen Faiz Hameed Saturday visited Kabul to meet with the Taliban representatives and discuss matters related to safe evacuation of foreign nationals, border management and security in the region, The News reported Saturday.
According to informed sources, the ISI chief discussed matters with the Taliban related to the issue of pending requests from countries and international organizations for repatriation/transit through Pakistan.
Pakistan media said that the ISI chief visited Kabul at the invitation of Taiban.
Baradar or Haqqani
However, the Indian news agency ANI claimed that the ISI Chief visits Kabul to ensure that Haqqani and now Baradar lead the new Afghan government.
The ANI quoted Mariam Solaimankhil, former Director of International Relation Coordination at Administrative Office of former President Ashraf Ghani, as saying that Pakistan intelligence chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed had arrived in Kabul to make sure that Abdul Ghani Baradar does not lead the new Afghanistan government.
"From what I am hearing DG of ISI has come into Kabul to make sure Baradar doesn't lead this government and Haqqani does," said Mariam Solaimankhil.
She also said that there were a lot of disagreements amongst the Taliban factions and the Taliban cofounder Mullah Baradar. "There are a lot of disagreements amongst the Taliban factions and Baradar has called all his men off of attacking Panjshir," tweeted Solaimankhil, according to ANI.
CIA Director held secret meeting with Baradar
Tellingly, contrary to the ISI Chief's visit the CIA Director William Burns held secret meeting in Kabul with Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar on August 23.
CIA Director William J. Burns held a secret meeting Monday (August 23) in Kabul with the Taliban's de facto leader, Abdul Ghani Baradar, in the highest-level face-to-face encounter between the Taliban and the Biden administration since the militants seized the Afghan capital, Washington Post reported on August 24.
For Baradar, playing the role of counterpart to a CIA director comes with a tinge of irony 11 years after the spy agency arrested him in a joint CIA-Pakistani operation that put him in prison for eight years, the Washington Post report said adding: The Taliban leader, however, is no stranger to Westerners.
After his release from prison in 2018, he served as the Taliban's chief negotiator in peace talks with the United States in Qatar that resulted in an agreement with the Trump administration on the withdrawal of U.S. forces.
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