US concerned over ISI’s links with Lashkar, Haqqani network

ISLAMABAD - The US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman, Admiral Mike Mullen, has said that Washington remained concerned over Pakistani intelligence agency ISI’s alleged links with Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) and the Haqqani network.

Mullen said: “Any links which exist with terrorist organisations, whether it’s Haqqani or LeT, are completely unacceptable. I am appalled at the release. I feel very strongly that we need to make sure to do all we can that leaks like this don’t occur.”

The 92,000 documents released by WikiLeaks on Sunday, dating from 2004 to 2009, alleges Pakistan for allowing its spies to meet directly with the Taliban and even plot to assassinate Afghan leaders and US soldiers.

Admiral Mullen said he was “appalled” at the leak of 92,000 secret military files on the Afghan mission, but that the information about Pakistan’s activities and other details were taken into account during a major strategy review on the war last year.

“Certainly the information that I’ve seen so far in the documents, there’s nothing in there that wasn’t reviewed or considered in the strategic review on the war last year,” Mullen told reporters on his plane before landing in Iraq.

The Daily Times quoted him as saying that the Obama administration was still “working through” all the documents, adding that most of the files appeared to be “field level information, raw intelligence”.

Asked if the files show Pakistan has duped Washington, Admiral Mullen said that was not the case and that the US had made clear to Islamabad its concerns about possible links to militant groups. (ANI)