ISLAMABAD, Nov 5: Gen (retd) Hameed Gul, former director-general of Inter-Services Intelligence, called on Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Mian Nawaz Sharif at the Punjab House on Monday and spent some time together.

Confirming the meeting, Gen Gul told Dawn it was a long overdue courtesy call during which he inquired after the health of Mr Sharif’s ailing wife. They also discussed political issues, he added.

“As a patriotic Pakistani, I expressed concern over the worsening situation in the country,” he responded when asked if anything important had come under discussion.

After the Supreme Court judgment on Asghar Khan’s petition and Gen Gul’s assertion that he was behind the creation of the right-wing IJI against the PPP in late 80s, analysts believe the meeting was more than just a courtesy call.

“Even if it was a courtesy call, a meeting between a former DG of the ISI and the head of a major political party will always attract media attention,” commented a political science teacher of the Quaid-i-Azam University, who requested not to be named. Moreover, he said, when the former ISI DG happens to be Gen Gul, who wouldn’t take notice of the meeting.

In a TV interview last week Gen Gul admitted that he had played a role in the creation of the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) during his term as ISI chief from March 1987 to June 1989. When asked about the reasons, he said: “I did this in my personal capacity.”

“I had been a friend of former Jamaat-i-Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad, Mian Nawaz Sharif (Mohammad Khan Junejo and General Fazl-i-Haq) and still am. I brought these politicians together for the sake of the country and I have no regrets for doing that,” Mr Gul said.

About alleged distribution of funds among politicians by his successor, General Asad Durrani during 1990 general elections, he said he had no clue to that and refused to comment whether or not some politicians had received funds from the ISI.

General Durrani, in an affidavit submitted in Asghar Khan case, has provided a list of politicians, including Mr Sharif, who were financed by the ISI in 1990 elections.

Referring to Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan’s article, which appeared in an English daily on Monday and in which he described events leading to the then military establishment’s opposition to Benazir Bhutto, Gen Gul said: “My role in the creation of the IJI was natural which I had played for the safety of the country.” Dr Khan in his piece talked about the role of BB’s first government in capping uranium enrichment and supporting India against Sikh separatists.

The chief spokesman for the PML-N, Senator Mushahidullah Khan, was not available for comments. Khurram Dastagir, deputy information secretary of the party, said, “I have learnt about the meeting only through media, therefore, am not in a position to comment.”

Soon after Gen Gul’s interview last week, the PPP lashed out at him for his role in the formation of the IJI before the 1990 elections which had been declared manipulated by the Supreme Court in the Asghar Khan case.

Federal Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira had called upon the military establishment to take notice of his (Gul’s) activities during service as he himself had confessed that he had formed the IJI in his personal capacity.

“Mr Gul had already created a lot of problems for the nation in the past and now he should refrain from issuing irresponsible statements,” Mr Kaira said.