Lt Gen (retd) Asad Durrani's name placed on ECL

RAWALPINDI: Former chief of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lieutenant General (retd) Asad Durrani's name has been placed on the Exit Control List (ECL), said a notification issued by Interior Ministry on Tuesday. 

The Military Intelligence Directorate had recommended the placement of Durrani's name on the ECL due to his involvement in an ongoing inquiry, the notification said.

The Ministry of Interior issued the notification a day after the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said the former spy chief would be probed by a Court of Inquiry for views attributed to him in his book ‘The Spy Chronicles’.

Durrani, who served as the chief of Pakistan's premier intelligence agency from August 1990 till March 1992, co-authored a book with former Indian spy chief AS Dulat, titled 'The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace'.

Earlier, the former spy chief arrived at the Pakistan Army's General Headquarters (GHQ) after being summoned to explain his position on the book.

Major General Asif Ghafoor, director-general of the ISPR, tweeted about the proceedings later in the day.

Major General Ghafoor wrote on Twitter that a formal Court of Inquiry headed by a serving lieutenant general had been ordered to probe the matter in detail.

"Competent authority approached to place his [Durrani's] name on [the] Exit Control List," wrote Major General Ghafoor.

Last week, the DG ISPR had tweeted about the retired military officer being summoned to the GHQ.

"Lt Gen Asad Durrani, Retired being called in GHQ on 28th May 18. Will be asked to explain his position on views attributed to him in book ‘Spy Chronicles’. Attribution taken as violation of Military Code of Conduct applicable on all serving and retired military personnel,” Major General Asif Ghafoor had posted.

Durrani's summoning to the GHQ came after former premier Nawaz Sharif and Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Senator Raza Rabbani voiced their reservations over the book, which has been co-authored by former chief of India’s spy agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) AS Dulat and Lt Gen (retd) Asad Durrani.

Sharif last week demanded that an emergency meeting of the National Security Committee be summoned over the book, while Rabbani, who formerly served as the chairman of the Senate of Pakistan, also severely criticised the teaming up of former chiefs of Pakistan and India’s spy agencies to write the book.

"It is shocking that on one hand Pakistan and India relations are at an all-time low and on the other hand, former spy chiefs of both the countries are teaming up to write a book," Rabbani had lashed out.are teaming up to write a book," Rabbani had lashed out.