ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Sunday appointed a new chief of the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency, replacing the agency’s current head, Lieutenant General Asim Munir, after only eight months on the job.
Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed, a former senior ISI figure, was appointed director general of the agency, according to a statement by the military’s press wing, which did not explain the re-shuffle.
By turn, the head of the ISI occupies one of the most important posts in Pakistan.
The military’s backers ay Pakistan faces external threats from most of its neighbors, especially India, and is working within the law to defend the country.
Hameed was seen to be hugely influential within ISI during his previous stint at the agency, according to analysts.
He was one of the figures who brokered the Faizabad agreement in late 2017, when protesters blocked off roads into capital Islamabad, in an incident that further stoked civilian-military tensions.
The military did not explain why Munir, who was posted out to lead the Gujranwala Corps, was removed as ISI chief so soon into an expected three-year term. —Reuters
