Pakistan Places Own Former ISI Chief Asad Durrani on No-Fly List

One of the contentious claims attributed to Durrani is that Pak mishandled the Kulbhushan Yadav case, reports say.

Ex-ISI head Asad Durrani was placed on the Exit Control List after his book, The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace, released.

(Photo Courtesy: Youtube/ Eurasia Group Foundation)

Pakistan has placed a former chief of the ISI, the country’s spy agency, on the Exit Control List AKA the country’s ‘No-Fly List’.

Former Lieutenant General Asad Durrani of the ISI, was banned from leaving the country after the release of his book The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace, co-authored with former Indian RAW chief AS Daulat.

Some of the claims Durrani made include, according to IANS, was that former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani was fully aware, and in agreement, with the US operation against former Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, and that a deal was struck between the US and Pakistan in this regard. He also went on to suggest that Pakistan mishandled the case of Kulbushan Jadhav, claiming that he would eventually be handed over to India.

People whose names are placed on the Exit Control List (ECL) are prohibited from leaving Pakistan.

Durrani expressed dismay at his "own people" after severe backlash over his recent book that landed him in controversy. He was also targeted by retired senior army officers on different TV talk shows. Lieutenant General (R) Abdul Qayyum and Retired Major General Ijaz Awan questioned Durrani’s motives behind releasing the book.

Retired Lieutenant General Mustafa Ghulam as well questioned the book’s release, stating that the “concept itself smells.”

PTI reported that Durrani was summoned after ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called for an urgent meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) to discuss the book.

The former ISI chief, however, found support from Dawn journalist Cyril Almeida, who was placed on the Exit Control List for three days in October 2016 for reporting about an alleged rift between the Pakistan government and the army on the issue of non-state actors.

"I am saddened by the allegations made on me by my own people. I have served Pakistan all along, putting my life at risk. People who live life for others selflessly never get respect they deserve & instead those who do all wrongs for their own benefits are treated like King," he said, according to a report from NDTV.

Former Chairman of the Pakistan Senate, Raza Rabbani, also said that if a politician had teamed up with an Indian counterpart to write a book like this, they should have been branded a traitor.

“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,” the former Senate chairman was quoted as saying, according to Dawn.

(With inputs from IANS, PTI, NDTV, and Dawn)