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ISI chief on a clandestine visit to US

Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence chief, Lt Gen Ziauddin's, clandestine visit to the United States has set off speculations about the fate of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief's two-year-old government that has been under strain at home after the Kargil conflict.

Gen Ziauddin, who came here close on the heels of the visit last week of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharief, younger brother of Prime Minister Sharief, had discussions with some senior US officials of the Clinton administration.

Pakistani ambassador to the US, Tariq Fatimi, confirmed the arrival of Gen Ziauddin but said the embassy was not directly involved in the visit. The ISI chief is the guest of US military authorities and is expected to stay here for about a week, says Pakistani daily,The Nation.

He said, ''Such contacts do take place on regular basis but are not publicised. In the past also the ISI chiefs have been visiting the United States at least twice a year.''

The daily says the statement by US officials on Monday warning Pakistan military and political leaders against any bid to oust the Nawaz Sharief government through unconstitutional means, is believed to have resulted from their assessment of the situation in Pakistan formulated after meeting with Gen Ziauddin.

Observers here noted that he is the first ISI chief to have made an independent trip to Washington. Significantly, Pakistan's Army Chief Gen Pervaiz Musharraf has yet to visit the United States, the daily adds.

In another development leader of the opposition Benazir Bhutto also flew into Washington advancing her projected trip by at least three weeks, the daily adds.

UNI

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