Ahmad Shuja Pasha

Lieutenant-General Ahmad Shuja Pasha, HI(M) (born 18 March 1952) was the Director-General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan's main intelligence service, from October 2008 until March 2012. He was due to reach the age of superannuation on 18 March 2010, but has received one extension. His tenure was extended by a year, until 18 March 2012 when he retired. Pasha has been replaced by Lieutenant General Zaheerul Islam. In 2011, Ahmad Shuja Pasha was named as one of the 100 most influential people by Time Magazine.

Army career
Pasha was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the famed Frontier Force Regiment in the 49th PMA Long Course in 1974. He has commanded an infantry battalion, a mechanized infantry brigade and has served as the Chief Instructor of the Command and Staff College of the Pakistani Army. From 2001 to 2002, General Pasha served as a Contingent and Sector Commander of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone.

Pasha was promoted to Major General in January 2003, and posted as GOC 8th Infantry Division in Sialkot. From there in April 2005, he was sent as Commandant Command and Staff College in Quetta. From April 2006 to October 2008, Pasha served as the Director General of Military Operations at the Army headquarters overseeing all military engagements in Waziristan, Swat and other tribal areas.

In October 2007, Pasha was selected as Military Adviser to Secretary-General of United Nations. However, due to his commitments as DGMO he never joined the UN.

ISI appointment (2008-2012)
The newly elected civilian government of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani tried for two months to gain control of the appointment for the director of the ISI as well as place the agency under the administrative, financial, and operational control of the Interior Ministry. However, the attempt failed when Chief of Army Staff, General Kayani appointed Pasha on 29 September 2008. Pasha’s prior post was responsible for planning operations against Taliban and al-Qaeda militants in the FATA and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces of Pakistan, signaling a reorientation from the ISI's traditional Kashmir/India focus. Pasha was appointed director of the ISI at Washington's behest; Pasha is closely allied to General Kayani, the CIA, and holds anti-Taliban views. The United States Government had pressured Pakistan to replace Lieutenant-General Nadeem Taj, the prior chief of the ISI, whom they claimed as "double dealing" with militants with a more acceptable candidate like Pasha. Additionally, Pasha’s appointment was part of a wider Chief of Army Staff reappointment shake-up that solidified General Kayani’s loyalty among the military as all prior appointees were done by former President and Chief of the Army Pervez Musharraf.

Pasha retired as Director General ISI on 18 March 2012 and was succeeded by Zaheerul Islam.

2008 Mumbai attacks
In the wake of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, the Indian media reported that President Asif Ali Zardari had instructed Pasha to go to India to share intelligence after a request from Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, which would have constituted the first time a head of the ISI traveling to help the investigation of a terrorist attack. Under pressure from the Pakistan military, the decision was reversed within a few hours.

In September 2009, he made another public outreach toward India, attending an Iftar hosted by Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan, Sabharwal.