The Prime Minister’s Office on Tuesday issued a notification appointing Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum as the new chief of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). He will replace the incumbent Lt Gen Faiz Hameed from next month.
“The Prime Minister has appointed, with effect from November 20, 2021, the appointment of Lieutenant General Nadeem Ahmed Anjum … as Director General Inter-Services Intelligence, from the Panel of Officers on Para 6 of the Summary, and has approved his appointment,” A notification issued by the PMO on October 26 said.
As per the notification, the current ISI Director General Lt Gen Faiz Hameed will continue to hold the charge as ISI chief till November 19, 2021.
Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum, who was commissioned into service in September 1988, was earlier heading Corps V in Karachi.
General Anjum commanded a brigade in Kurram Agency, headed the Frontier Corps (North) in Balochistan and remained the Commandant of Command and Staff College Quetta before becoming Corps Commander Karachi in December 2020.
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The appointment comes nearly three weeks after an alleged standoff between the army and the government over the appointment of Pakistan’s new spy. The Army had on October 6 announced that former ISI chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed has been made Peshawar Corps Commander, while Lt Gen Anjum has been appointed appointed in his place.
But the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) had not issued an official notification of Lt Gen Anjum’s appointment since then, sparking rumors about tensions in civil-military relations.
After several days of speculation, on October 12, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry had said that right to appoint The ISI chief rests with the Prime Minister, and the prescribed procedure will be followed for this purpose.
“The legal process will be followed in the appointment of the new DG ISI, for which both [Gen Bajwa and Prime Minister Imran] are in agreement,” he had said.
Chowdhury had said that PM Imran and the army chief had a “long meeting” last night to discuss the matter and later the prime minister had taken the cabinet into confidence on the issue.
“General Bajwa and the prime minister enjoy close and cordial relations. And it is also important from a historical point of view that there should be ideal relations between the civilian and military leadership of Pakistan,” he said.
On October 19 (Monday), Choudhary had denied reports that a fresh summary with the names of candidates for the post of ISI chief had been sent to the PMO. He had said that “all issues” between the civilian and military leadership had been resolved and a notification of a new ISI Director General would be issued. current week.
Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid said much on October 16 (Saturday) that the issue of appointment was amicably resolved between the civilian and military leadership and that the spymaster would be appointed. before next friday.
However, when contacted about the matter on Thursday, he simply said: “I don’t know anything about it.”
Sources said that the Prime Minister likely to issue A notification for the appointment of a spymaster on Friday before leaving for Saudi Arabia on a three-day official visit. “Probably a notification will be issued on Friday,” a senior cabinet member said. dawn on condition of anonymity.
Sources said Lt Gen Anjum, who was earlier serving as the Corps Commander for Karachi, met the Prime Minister on Wednesday.
According to defense affairs experts, the procedure for the appointment of the ISI Director General is neither mentioned in the Constitution nor the Army Act, and all previous appointments were made in accordance with the conventions under which the army chief proposes three names to the prime minister. who then takes the final decision.