Pakistan gets new ISI chief

Islamabad, Dec 12: The Pakistan Army has appointed Lt. Gen Naveed Mukhtar, who headed the Karachi Corps, as the new chief of its spy wing, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

"Corps Commander Karachi Lt. Gen Naveed Mukhtar has been transferred and posted as director general (DG) Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)," the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a notification late on Sunday.

Lt. Gen Mukhtar replaced Lt. Gen Rizwan Akhtar, who has been appointed as the president of the National Defence University (NDU) in Islamabad, the military's media wing said.

Lt. Gen Mukhtar was commissioned in the Armoured Corps regiment in 1983. He is a graduate of the Command and Staff College Quetta, National Defence University Islamabad and War Course USA. He has also commanded a Mechanised Division.

Lt. Gen Mukhtar had earlier headed the counterterrorism wing of the ISI in Islamabad.

The army, in its major reshuffle, also transferred DG ISPR Lt. Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa and appointed him as Inspector General Arms at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi. He had been serving as the military's top spokesman since June 2012.

A total of nine transfers were notified on Sunday. The announcement comes two days after army chief promoted seven major generals, including Mukhtar, to the rank of Lieutenant General.