PS to State Minister of Int in FIA custody

ISLAMABAD Mr Qadir, the PS to the State Minister of Interior Tasnim Qureshi, has been arrested and is in FIA custody charged with receiving US $ 2000 in bribe for every prohibited bore license - in total charged with receiving $ 276,000 for 138 pieces of weapons. Inter-Risk allegedly obtained these 138 licenses for the banned weapons against bribes to Interior Ministry personnel. With these new revelations, the Inter-Risk-DynCorp saga continues to get murkier and creates a picture where the US embassy, personnel of the Interior Ministry and Inter-Risk are all interlinked at multiple levels. After all, it was the US embassys deputy Chief of Mission who, in October, issued a statement in a press conference insisting that the licence of Inter-Risk had not been cancelled. This led the Interior Ministry to issue a statement the next day confirming that in fact this licence had been cancelled.
But clearly official security circles are shocked to see the extent of the breach of Pakistans internal security to the extent that the banned activities of Inter-Risk and US defence contractor DynCorp are still being carried out thanks to the immense influence being exercised by US diplomats on the government in Islamabad.
It was in September 2009 that Pakistan revoked Inter-Risks licence - the company being a Pakistani security company working for DynCorp, a US defence contractor hired by the US embassy in Islamabad. Inter-Risk was found allegedly bribing government officials to allow banned weapons into the country. Interestingly, US Ambassador Patterson herself lobbied on this companys behalf with the Interior Ministry to acquire the licenses for the import of these banned weapons.
Now it would appear that these activities may be revived again and expanded to include the creation of a covert rapid intervention security force under DynCorp made up of retired Pakistani Special Services commandos. The US embassy is also seeking the release of the arrested persons of DynCorp and those linked to it, probably with the intent of having them quietly leave the country. For the security apparatus of the country, it is the importing into the country of a cache of sophisticated banned weapons without the knowledge of the countrys security officials.
Meanwhile, emboldened by the Interior Ministry ignoring the issue, Inter-Risk petitioned the Rawalpindi Bench of the Lahore High Court, pleading to let the company resume its operations. The Rawalpindi Bench of the LHC, in a judgement issued on 11 November 2009 ordered the government to allow Inter-Risk to continue the legal part of its operations in the country. Judge Asad Munir wrote in his order: In the meantime, the respondents [government authorities] are restrained to create any unlawful hurdle in the lawful business of the petitioner company.
The FIA inquiry continues with little official support from the Ministry. But the security apparatus of the country is concerned over the status of the contract between Inter-Risk and DynCorp since the Pakistan Authorities had only approved a one year provisional licence to allow DynCorp to stay and operate in Pakistan. That contract, according to sources, ended in March 2009. The weapons procurement from unknown sources took place after that date. That was the basis on which Interior Minister Rehman Malik gave the order to raid the Inter-Risk office - from where the banned weapons were recovered. Subsequently, it was also discovered that Inter-Risk was involved in illegally recruiting & training private militias at a training facility shown as an automobile workshop - a story first broken by TheNation with visual evidence. The biggest worry in security circles is that Inter-Risk and DynCorp may be beginning their covert operations under cover of the LHC decision.