CIA, ISI are best of partners: Haqqani

Lalit K Jha
Washington, Apr 28 (PTI) Amidst reports that Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Inter Services Intelligence
(ISI) of late do not see an eye to eye, Pakistan's envoy to
the US Husain Haqqani said both are best of partners in the
war against terrorism.
"Actually, contrary to public perception, CIA and ISI
are the best of partners," Haqqani told the MSNBC news channel
in an interview.
"Just as there are people who don't want to believe
the birth certificate even if it exists, similarly, there are
people who don't want to believe that the ISI is a partner of
the CIA. And that causes a lot of problems," Haqqani said
referring to the controversy surrounding the birth certificate
of President Barack Obama.
"The truth is that, in the last few months, we have
really worked at bridging the gap. Last week, Pakistan's
Foreign Secretary was in town. We had intense meetings.
Ambassador Grossman, President Obama's new special
representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, is headed to
Pakistan," he said.
Haqqani said the CIA and the ISI have already worked
out an arrangement whereby they will be able to have measures
that will enable each other to trust each other on certain
specifics.
"We have overcome the rough patch. The important
thing is Pakistan needs the US, and the US needs Pakistan. We
are allies. We are partners, and we will work together,"
Haqqani said.
The Pakistani Ambassador down played the recent
statement by Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff, that elements in ISI has links with the terrorist
Haqqani network.
"What he did was he actually asserted an intelligence
assessment over which Pakistan and America have disagreed over
a long time. Now, it is something that is a subject of an
ongoing discussion between us. We intend to clear it up. We
want Afghanistan to be a stable state in our neighbourhood. We
want the United States to succeed in Afghanistan, and we
intend to work with the US," Haqqani said.
"There's a long history here. The new democratic
government that took over in 2008 has come a long way in
building a strategic partnership. It will take us a little
more time to overcome the burden of history," Haqqani said.