Pakistan's Interior Ministry today banned the spy agency ISI's former chief Lt Gen (retd.) Asad Durrani from leaving the country, a day after the powerful army ordered a Court of Inquiry over a controversial book he recently co-authored with India's former intelligence head.
Durrani, who headed the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency from August 1990 till March 1992, along with former RAW chief A S Dulat has recently published the book titled 'The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace' in India.
A notification issued by the ministry read that the name of Asad Durrani was added to the Exil Control List (ECL) on the "recommendation of Military Intelligence Directorate Rawalpindi due to his involvement in an ongoing inquiry".
The decision was taken a day after the army asked the government that Durrani should be put on the ECL.
Those persons on the ECL are prohibited from leaving Pakistan.
Durrani was yesterday summoned to the General Headquarters (GHQ) to explain his position on the book 'Spy Chronicles'.
Apparently he failed to satisfy the military as it was announced that a "formal Court of Inquiry headed by a serving Lieutenant General has been ordered to probe the matter in detail."
Durrani was apparently summoned after ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif demanded an urgent meeting of the high-powered National Security Committee (NSC) to discuss a recent book co-authored by a former spy chiefs of Pakistan and India.
Also, former chairman Senate Raza Rabbani and prominent leader of Pakistan Peoples Party criticised the joint book by rival spy chiefs and said if it was written by a civilian, he would have been branded as traitor.
The two former spy chiefs have touched upon in the book some thorny issues including terrorism, particularly Mumbai attack, Kashmir and the influence of intelligence agencies.
In the book, Durrani has revealed that track-II diplomacy was in place since long aimed at averting war between the two nuclear-armed neigbours.
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