Why Has Pakistan Targeted Informants Who Helped Track Bin Laden? (Time.com)

In the days following the raid that discovered and killed Osama bin Laden, Pakistan's top spymaster recalled that he had long made his feelings plain to his American allies. Where the two countries' interests meet, Lieut. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha told a select group of journalists, there would be co-operation. But where the U.S.'s interests were deemed to be acting against Pakistan's own, it would be a very different matter. "We'll not help you," the head of Pakistan's Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) quoted himself as telling his American counterparts. "We'll resist you."

Now, Pasha seems to be making good on that promise. Stung by the embarrassment of bin Laden's discovery in a garrison town just two hours away from the Pakistani capital, and the humiliation of the U.S. carrying out a unilateral raid, the ISI has apparently gone after the Pakistanis who helped them pull it off. Five Pakistani informants, including an Army major, who furnished the CIA with crucial leads about bin Laden's compound have been taken into custody by the ISI, the New York Times reported. (See photos of the Taliban's war in Pakistan.)

The Pakistani military angrily denies that a major - reported to have tracked the license plates of cars visiting bin Laden's compound - has been taken into custody. But a Pakistan army officer says that some 30-to-40 civilians in total were being interrogated, some of whom were released on Tuesday. And there is speculation that the detained major, thought to be an army medic, may have been the occupant of a house near bin Laden's compound, where a nameplate said that the property belonged to a Major Amir Aziz. The nameplate was later taken down.

The move against the informants appears to be an attempt to stand up to what the ISI sees as American unilateralism and, in particular, an unauthorized expansion of the CIA's footprint in Pakistan. The ISI, says a senior Pakistani official, is "trying to lay down the rule that the CIA does not operate independently in Pakistan." Beyond the humiliation of bin Laden being discovered a mere kilometer away from Pakistan's equivalent of West Point Academy, the Pakistani security establishment has been angered by widely-voiced but unproven suspicions of complicity. But what appears to have angered the powerful generals most is the lack of trust displayed by the unilateral raid - and the strategic vulnerability that it exposed.

At the time of the raid, senior Western diplomats in Islamabad predicted that the Pakistani security establishment would react in two ways. To efface the shame of the bin Laden raid, it would try and demonstrate its commitment to fighting al-Qaeda and other Islamist militants on its soil. Yet, aggrieved for the same reasons, the generals were seen just as likely to react aggressively in less helpful ways. The roundup of the informants and others suggests that more emphasis is being laid on being seen to stand up to the U.S. (See photos of the aftermath of twin suicide bombers in Pakistan.)

Since the Raymond Davis affair, when a CIA contractor unknown to the ISI killed two Pakistani men in the city of Lahore in January, Pasha and his boss, Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani have been keen to minimize the CIA and US military's presence in Pakistan. Last week, they expelled a group of U.S. military trainers who had been invited to the country to help enhance the counterinsurgency capabilities of Pakistani troops fighting militants in the tribal areas along the Afghan border.

Pasha has long been angered by what he sees as an uncontrollably expanding and independent CIA footprint in Pakistan. At the same May briefing with journalists, the embattled spy chief complained indignantly that his spies were on the verge of being "outnumbered" by foreign agents. It's a scenario that spookily echoes the theme of David Ignatius' latest spy thriller, Bloodmoney. In the novel, the fictionalized ISI chief learns of a new capability being run by the CIA beyond his knowledge. "It was an insult," Ignatius writes. "The ISI chief had considered whether he should do something to hurt the Americans back."

Reality is now rivaling fiction as relations between the two spy agencies plunge to fresh depths. The informants' arrests come on the heels of the CIA's allegation that the ISI may have tipped-off militants based at bomb factories in Waziristan. As first reported on TIME.com, CIA chief Leon Panetta (and the likely successor to Defense Secretary Robert Gates) traveled to Pakistan last Friday to confront Pasha with satellite images showing the militants flee the two sites within 24 hours of the CIA passing on their location to the Pakistanis. When Pakistani troops later arrived at the facilities used for the manufacture of improvised explosive devices, the pro-Afghan Taliban militants were long gone. The Times reported that it was at the same meeting with Pasha that Panetta raised the arrests of the informants. See if the U.S. can trust Pakistan.

Such alleged failures at intelligence sharing and action against militants who attack U.S. forces in Afghanistan are what led President Barack Obama to clear the intensification of CIA operations in Pakistan. Shedding the reliance on the ISI, Obama charged the CIA to proceed independently. One manifestation of that change of policy was an intensification of drone strikes, which almost daily continue to target suspected militants in the tribal areas along the Afghan border. Despite the Pakistan Army and government's loud denunciations of the covert program, they have not tried to put a halt to them.

By striking a defiant nationalist pose, Pasha may be hoping to stanch the wave of pressure that has been piling on his institution, and his own position, over the past month. The ISI chief had offered to resign on three occasions. The Pakistani military as a whole has been made the focus of unprecedented criticism from civil society campaigners, journalists and opposition politicians. There is also tremendous pressure from below, with the military's lower ranks registering anger at the U.S. in the wake of the bin Laden raid.

And yet, for others, there was always an element of inevitability about the ISI's relations with the CIA. "They have been deteriorating for a long time," says retired Lieut. Gen. Asad Durrani, a former ISI chief. "With every such event, they take a nosedive. It's not surprising. We did not have the same objectives, and we didn't have the same strategies."

(See photos of Osama bin Laden's Pakistan hideout.)

See if the U.S. is stuck with Pakistan.

View this article on Time.com

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Why Has Pakistan Targeted Informants Who Helped Track Bin Laden? (Time.com)

In the days following the raid that discovered and killed Osama bin Laden, Pakistan's top spymaster recalled that he had long made his feelings plain to his American allies. Where the two countries' interests meet, Lieut. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha told a select group of journalists, there would be co-operation. But where the U.S.'s interests were deemed to be acting against Pakistan's own, it would be a very different matter. "We'll not help you," the head of Pakistan's Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) quoted himself as telling his American counterparts. "We'll resist you."

Now, Pasha seems to be making good on that promise. Stung by the embarrassment of bin Laden's discovery in a garrison town just two hours away from the Pakistani capital, and the humiliation of the U.S. carrying out a unilateral raid, the ISI has apparently gone after the Pakistanis who helped them pull it off. Five Pakistani informants, including an Army major, who furnished the CIA with crucial leads about bin Laden's compound have been taken into custody by the ISI, the New York Times reported. (See photos of the Taliban's war in Pakistan.)

The Pakistani military angrily denies that a major - reported to have tracked the license plates of cars visiting bin Laden's compound - has been taken into custody. But a Pakistan army officer says that some 30-to-40 civilians in total were being interrogated, some of whom were released on Tuesday. And there is speculation that the detained major, thought to be an army medic, may have been the occupant of a house near bin Laden's compound, where a nameplate said that the property belonged to a Major Amir Aziz. The nameplate was later taken down.

The move against the informants appears to be an attempt to stand up to what the ISI sees as American unilateralism and, in particular, an unauthorized expansion of the CIA's footprint in Pakistan. The ISI, says a senior Pakistani official, is "trying to lay down the rule that the CIA does not operate independently in Pakistan." Beyond the humiliation of bin Laden being discovered a mere kilometer away from Pakistan's equivalent of West Point Academy, the Pakistani security establishment has been angered by widely-voiced but unproven suspicions of complicity. But what appears to have angered the powerful generals most is the lack of trust displayed by the unilateral raid - and the strategic vulnerability that it exposed.

At the time of the raid, senior Western diplomats in Islamabad predicted that the Pakistani security establishment would react in two ways. To efface the shame of the bin Laden raid, it would try and demonstrate its commitment to fighting al-Qaeda and other Islamist militants on its soil. Yet, aggrieved for the same reasons, the generals were seen just as likely to react aggressively in less helpful ways. The roundup of the informants and others suggests that more emphasis is being laid on being seen to stand up to the U.S. (See photos of the aftermath of twin suicide bombers in Pakistan.)

Since the Raymond Davis affair, when a CIA contractor unknown to the ISI killed two Pakistani men in the city of Lahore in January, Pasha and his boss, Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani have been keen to minimize the CIA and US military's presence in Pakistan. Last week, they expelled a group of U.S. military trainers who had been invited to the country to help enhance the counterinsurgency capabilities of Pakistani troops fighting militants in the tribal areas along the Afghan border.

Pasha has long been angered by what he sees as an uncontrollably expanding and independent CIA footprint in Pakistan. At the same May briefing with journalists, the embattled spy chief complained indignantly that his spies were on the verge of being "outnumbered" by foreign agents. It's a scenario that spookily echoes the theme of David Ignatius' latest spy thriller, Bloodmoney. In the novel, the fictionalized ISI chief learns of a new capability being run by the CIA beyond his knowledge. "It was an insult," Ignatius writes. "The ISI chief had considered whether he should do something to hurt the Americans back."

Reality is now rivaling fiction as relations between the two spy agencies plunge to fresh depths. The informants' arrests come on the heels of the CIA's allegation that the ISI may have tipped-off militants based at bomb factories in Waziristan. As first reported on TIME.com, CIA chief Leon Panetta (and the likely successor to Defense Secretary Robert Gates) traveled to Pakistan last Friday to confront Pasha with satellite images showing the militants flee the two sites within 24 hours of the CIA passing on their location to the Pakistanis. When Pakistani troops later arrived at the facilities used for the manufacture of improvised explosive devices, the pro-Afghan Taliban militants were long gone. The Times reported that it was at the same meeting with Pasha that Panetta raised the arrests of the informants. See if the U.S. can trust Pakistan.

Such alleged failures at intelligence sharing and action against militants who attack U.S. forces in Afghanistan are what led President Barack Obama to clear the intensification of CIA operations in Pakistan. Shedding the reliance on the ISI, Obama charged the CIA to proceed independently. One manifestation of that change of policy was an intensification of drone strikes, which almost daily continue to target suspected militants in the tribal areas along the Afghan border. Despite the Pakistan Army and government's loud denunciations of the covert program, they have not tried to put a halt to them.

By striking a defiant nationalist pose, Pasha may be hoping to stanch the wave of pressure that has been piling on his institution, and his own position, over the past month. The ISI chief had offered to resign on three occasions. The Pakistani military as a whole has been made the focus of unprecedented criticism from civil society campaigners, journalists and opposition politicians. There is also tremendous pressure from below, with the military's lower ranks registering anger at the U.S. in the wake of the bin Laden raid.

And yet, for others, there was always an element of inevitability about the ISI's relations with the CIA. "They have been deteriorating for a long time," says retired Lieut. Gen. Asad Durrani, a former ISI chief. "With every such event, they take a nosedive. It's not surprising. We did not have the same objectives, and we didn't have the same strategies."

(See photos of Osama bin Laden's Pakistan hideout.)

See if the U.S. is stuck with Pakistan.

View this article on Time.com

Most Popular on Time.com:

Yahoo! News

Official: bin Laden informants arrested

The five CIA informants were reported to have copied license plates of cars visiting bin Laden's compound before the May raid.NEW: A U.S. official confirms that the CIA director discussed the arrests with Pakistani top brassSuspected CIA informants were arrested after the bin Laden raid, an official saysThe official does not know the exact number of people heldThe arrests could be another blow to the relationship between the U.S. and Pakistan

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan's intelligence agency has arrested a person who rented a safe house to the CIA before American special forces killed Osama bin Laden, as well as suspected CIA informants, a source familiar with the arrests told CNN Wednesday

A second official confirmed that Pakistan had detained informants who gave information to the CIA before the raid but said he did not know the exact number of people arrested or when it happened.

The revelations, first reported by The New York Times, are likely to further strain what has become a rocky relationship between the two countries.

CIA Director Leon Panetta discussed the arrests Friday with Pakistan army chief Gen. Ashfaq Kayani and Lt. Gen. Ahmad Shuja Pasha, Pakistan's head of military intelligence, the official said. A United States official confirmed that the discussion had taken place but would not give details about the arrests.

The first Pakistani official did not say whether the owner of the safe house was suspected of being a CIA informant. He asked not to be named discussing sensitive internal matters.

The second Pakistani official asked to remain anonymous because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

Panetta visited Pakistan last week, just over a month after Navy SEALs entered Pakistan secretly and killed bin Laden, further heightening tensions between Washington and Islamabad.

A Pakistani military spokesman confirmed that there were "a number of people arrested in Abbottabad after the raid on the Osama bin Laden compound," but said he could not say if the people were CIA officers.

Some were seized at "a house in Abbottabad that was used to monitor the bin Laden compound activities," said Syed Azmat Ali, the military spokesman. "They could have been Pakistanis who were informants to the CIA."

Ali said those arrests were made by Pakistan's powerful military intelligence agency, the ISI, "immediately after the raid, so this is not a new piece of information."

He and the intelligence official who asked not to be named were responding to reports in the New York Times that Pakistan had arrested five CIA informants who gave information to the United States before the raid on bin Laden's hideout.

The newspaper attributed the report to "American officials" without naming them.

It said one of those arrested was a Pakistani army major who kept records of license plate numbers on cars that visited the bin Laden hideout. Ali, the Pakistani military spokesman said that was "categorically" not true.

It also cited a damning assessment of Pakistan's cooperation with American counter-terror efforts by a top CIA official.

Deputy CIA director Michael J. Morell rated Pakistan's help at a three on a scale of one to 10, the Times said, quoting "officials familiar with the exchange."

Asked Wednesday by CNN to rate the Pakistani spy agency's relationship with the CIA from a scale of one to 10, military spokesman Ali said four.

Panetta, who has been nominated to be secretary of defense, told Congress in confirmation hearings last week that, "The relationship with Pakistan is at the same time one of the most critical and yet one of the most complicated and frustrating relationships that we have."

The relationship between the two countries has been in a downward spiral over disputes about how to pursue counterterrorism efforts.

The United States believes Pakistan is not doing enough to go after al Qaeda and other extremists, while the Pakistanis are upset with what they consider to be unilateral steps taken by the United States within their borders.

The United States is suspected of carrying out regular strikes by unmanned aircraft targeting suspected terrorists in Pakistan -- a suspected strike on Wednesday, killing 10 suspected militants, two Pakistani officials said.

Pakistani officials believe there were more than 100 American drone strikes in their country in 2010, a record, according to CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen. They think most of the casualties were foot soldiers or civilians, not high-value terror targets, he said.

The New America Foundation in Washington, which maintains an independent count of reported drone strikes, says there were 118 in 2010, killing between 600 and 1,000 people.

Public opinion polling shows that nine out of 10 Pakistanis have an unfavorable view of the drone strikes.

Pakistanis were also angered by the case of Raymond Davis, a CIA contractor who was charged with killing two Pakistani men, then released after compensation was paid to their families.

Davis described the two men as attackers and said he shot them in self-defense. Lahore Police Chief Aslam Tareen, however, said the case was "clear-cut murder."

According to Davis, the shooting occurred January 27 after two men attacked him as he drove through a busy Lahore neighborhood, the U.S. Embassy has said.

U.S. officials originally said Davis was a diplomat and tried to claim diplomatic immunity, then later revealed that he was a CIA contractor.

CIA chief Panetta's unannounced visit last week was the latest in a series by U.S. officials -- including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen and Sen. John Kerry -- in efforts to smooth things over after bin Laden was killed in the SEALs raid.

CNN's Nasir Habib, Aliza Kassim and Barbara Starr contributed to this report.

CNN

Pakistani official responds to report on CIA informants' arrest

The five CIA informants were reported to have copied license plates of cars visiting bin Laden's compound before the May raid.NEW: A U.S. official confirms that the CIA director discussed the arrests with Pakistani top brassSuspected CIA informants were arrested after the bin Laden raid, an official saysThe official does not know the exact number of people heldThe arrests could be another blow to the relationship between the U.S. and Pakistan

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan's intelligence agency has arrested a person who rented a safe house to the CIA before American special forces killed Osama bin Laden, as well as suspected CIA informants, a source familiar with the arrests told CNN Wednesday

A second official confirmed that Pakistan had detained informants who gave information to the CIA before the raid but said he did not know the exact number of people arrested or when it happened.

The revelations, first reported by The New York Times, are likely to further strain what has become a rocky relationship between the two countries.

CIA Director Leon Panetta discussed the arrests Friday with Pakistan army chief Gen. Ashfaq Kayani and Lt. Gen. Ahmad Shuja Pasha, Pakistan's head of military intelligence, the official said. A United States official confirmed that the discussion had taken place but would not give details about the arrests.

The first Pakistani official did not say whether the owner of the safe house was suspected of being a CIA informant. He asked not to be named discussing sensitive internal matters.

The second Pakistani official asked to remain anonymous because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

Panetta visited Pakistan last week, just over a month after Navy SEALs entered Pakistan secretly and killed bin Laden, further heightening tensions between Washington and Islamabad.

A Pakistani military spokesman confirmed that there were "a number of people arrested in Abbottabad after the raid on the Osama bin Laden compound," but said he could not say if the people were CIA officers.

Some were seized at "a house in Abbottabad that was used to monitor the bin Laden compound activities," said Syed Azmat Ali, the military spokesman. "They could have been Pakistanis who were informants to the CIA."

Ali said those arrests were made by Pakistan's powerful military intelligence agency, the ISI, "immediately after the raid, so this is not a new piece of information."

He and the intelligence official who asked not to be named were responding to reports in the New York Times that Pakistan had arrested five CIA informants who gave information to the United States before the raid on bin Laden's hideout.

The newspaper attributed the report to "American officials" without naming them.

It said one of those arrested was a Pakistani army major who kept records of license plate numbers on cars that visited the bin Laden hideout. Ali, the Pakistani military spokesman said that was "categorically" not true.

It also cited a damning assessment of Pakistan's cooperation with American counter-terror efforts by a top CIA official.

Deputy CIA director Michael J. Morell rated Pakistan's help at a three on a scale of one to 10, the Times said, quoting "officials familiar with the exchange."

Asked Wednesday by CNN to rate the Pakistani spy agency's relationship with the CIA from a scale of one to 10, military spokesman Ali said four.

Panetta, who has been nominated to be secretary of defense, told Congress in confirmation hearings last week that, "The relationship with Pakistan is at the same time one of the most critical and yet one of the most complicated and frustrating relationships that we have."

The relationship between the two countries has been in a downward spiral over disputes about how to pursue counterterrorism efforts.

The United States believes Pakistan is not doing enough to go after al Qaeda and other extremists, while the Pakistanis are upset with what they consider to be unilateral steps taken by the United States within their borders.

The United States is suspected of carrying out regular strikes by unmanned aircraft targeting suspected terrorists in Pakistan -- a suspected strike on Wednesday, killing 10 suspected militants, two Pakistani officials said.

Pakistani officials believe there were more than 100 American drone strikes in their country in 2010, a record, according to CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen. They think most of the casualties were foot soldiers or civilians, not high-value terror targets, he said.

The New America Foundation in Washington, which maintains an independent count of reported drone strikes, says there were 118 in 2010, killing between 600 and 1,000 people.

Public opinion polling shows that nine out of 10 Pakistanis have an unfavorable view of the drone strikes.

Pakistanis were also angered by the case of Raymond Davis, a CIA contractor who was charged with killing two Pakistani men, then released after compensation was paid to their families.

Davis described the two men as attackers and said he shot them in self-defense. Lahore Police Chief Aslam Tareen, however, said the case was "clear-cut murder."

According to Davis, the shooting occurred January 27 after two men attacked him as he drove through a busy Lahore neighborhood, the U.S. Embassy has said.

U.S. officials originally said Davis was a diplomat and tried to claim diplomatic immunity, then later revealed that he was a CIA contractor.

CIA chief Panetta's unannounced visit last week was the latest in a series by U.S. officials -- including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen and Sen. John Kerry -- in efforts to smooth things over after bin Laden was killed in the SEALs raid.

CNN's Nasir Habib, Aliza Kassim and Barbara Starr contributed to this report.

CNN