Leaks show Gitmo distrust of Pakistan ISI

Authorities at Guantánamo Bay regarded Pakistan's national intelligence agency, ISI, as either involved in or supporting terrorism, according to leaked documents made public yesterday, a designation that could anger leaders in the nuclear-armed Muslim country and worsen a relationship already marred by deep mutual distrust.

Disclosures that tie the ISI to terrorist groups and extremist organizations are nothing new. Just last week, in a visit to Pakistan, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, bluntly raised the allegation of a relationship between the ISI and the Haqqani network, an Afghan Taliban wing. Pakistani army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani dismissed such accusations from the United States as "negative propaganda."

But the latest disclosure, in a new round of WikiLeaks documents focusing on U.S. handling of detainees at the U.S. naval base in Cuba, comes at a time when relations between Washington and Islamabad are already at one of their lowest points ever.

The September 2007 document, titled "Matrix of Threat Indicators," lists the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate as one of 65 "terrorist and terrorist support entities."

The list, which also includes al-Qaida, Hamas, Hezbollah and the Taliban, was drafted to help interrogators determine a detainee's linkage with terrorist organizations and what future threat the individual may have posed.

"Through associations with these groups and organizations," the document states, "a detainee may have provided support to al-Qaida or the Taliban, or engaged in hostilities against U.S. or coalition forces."

Pakistani intelligence officials refused to comment. In the past, the country's intelligence community has denied any links with militant groups.

The ISI has long been said to have nurtured ties with Afghan mujahedeen groups who years ago battled Soviet forces and evolved into today's insurgents. The ISI also fostered the growth of militant groups fighting Indian troops in Kashmir, groups that have carried out terrorist strikes in Pakistan and liaise with al-Qaida.

The CIA has itself channeled hundreds of millions of dollars directly to the ISI since Sept. 11, 2001, some of which is supposed to help pay for the capture or killing of sought-after al-Qaida and Taliban militants. The Wikileaks document was one of hundreds of Guantánamo detainee papers released to several U.S. and European media outlets. Some were posted Monday on the website of the Guardian, a British newspaper The Guardian.