ISLAMABAD: Lt-Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha, chief of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), held a secret meeting with former president and retired chief of army staff Gen Pervez Musharraf in Dubai in a failed attempt to persuade him against returning to Pakistan during the present volatile political atmosphere, highly-placed sources told Dawn.Com here on Monday.

“General Pasha had remained very close to former president Musharraf and that is why he decided to take the initiative of meeting him in Dubai to convince him that it is not advisable for him to return to country,” said one of the knowledgeable sources who requested to remain anonymous.

The same source told this correspondent that despite Lt-Gen Pasha’s repeated requests, Gen (retd) Musharraf remained
adamant on taking the risk of returning to Pakistan to organise his political party.

The sources privy to the development claimed that soon after the Jan 8 announcement by Gen (retd) Musharraf to return to Pakistan towards the end of the month, the ISI chief flew to Dubai and held a detailed meeting with his former boss.

It is not yet clear whether the meeting was held on the directives of the Pakistan People’s Party government or it was a private meeting. However, the source insists that it was a private meeting between the two.

The sources say Lt-Gen Pasha enjoys good relations with former military dictator. In 2008, during the last year of Gen (retd) Musharraf in presidency, Lt-Gen Pasha was appointed Director General Military Operations, a key post every senior military
officer dreams of. Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, after becoming chief of army staff, promoted him to the rank of lieutenant general and appointed him chief of ISI.

Currently, two important cases against Gen (retd) Musharraf have been registered. An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC), Rawalpindi, has already declared him proclaimed offender in the Benazir murder case. Gen Musharraf is also nominated in
Akbar Bugti’s murder case in Balochistan.

Though Gen Musharraf is determined to return to Pakistan, one of the sources said that after his meeting with Lt-Gen Pasha, the former military ruler decided to call a meeting of his party on Jan 25 for revisiting his decision.

This correspondent attempted to contact military spokesman Maj-Gen Athar Abbas for the version of Lt-Gen Pasha but he was not available.