General Khawaja Ziauddin Abbasi | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Khawaja Ziauddin Abbasi: 154 [1] |
| Born | |
| Allegiance |  Pakistan |
| Branch |  Pakistan Army |
| Years of service | 1964–1999 |
| Rank |  General |
| Service number | PA–6989 |
| Unit | Pakistan Army Corps of Engineers |
| Commands | |
| Battles / wars | |
| Awards |  Hilal-e-Imtiaz |
| Other work | Chairman of Chief Minister’s Inspection Team, Punjab Provincial Government.[2] |
GeneralKhawaja Ziauddin Abbasi (Urdu:خواجہ ضیاء الدین عباسى), also known asZiauddin Butt (Urdu:ضیاء الدین بٹ), is a retiredfour-star rankarmy general[3][4][5][6] in thePakistan Army, who served as theChief of Army Staff (COAS), for few hours, untilChairman joint chiefs GeneralPervez Musharrafreasserted the command and control of the military despite his termination on12 October 1999.: 167 [6]: 169 [7]
His appointment as thechief of army staff is distinguishable since he was the firstarmy engineer and the firstDirector ISI who was appointed tofour-star command appointment.[8] His career in the military spent as anengineering officerPakistan Army Corps of Engineers before becoming thespymaster in theISI on 7 October 1998.
After the military'swar performance inKargil against theIndian Army,Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif forcefullyterminated thecommission of then-Chairman joint chiefs and then-army chief GeneralPervez Musharraf by elevating General Ziauddin as anarmy chief on 12 October 1999. This order of promotion was then refused by GeneralMusharraf'smilitary staff as GeneralMusharraf immediately led themilitary takeover of thecivilian government while dismissing General Zia from his appointment andcommission.
After a nearly two-yearmilitary investigation which found no evidence of his involvement inPrime Minister Sharif's decisions during the coup, Zia retired from hismilitary service in 2001.
In 2011, Ziauddin revealed to thenews media that, it wasBrigadierIjaz Shah, theDG ofIntelligence Bureau from 2004 to 2008, who hadprovided the support and hideout toOsama bin Laden in aIB's safe house inAbbottabad.[9] But he later denied making any such statements.[10]
Ziauddin Butt was born inLahore,Punjab inBritish India, and is ofKashmiri descent.: 175 [1]: 42 [11] His birth name is Khawaja Ziauddin Abbasi,: 154 [12] but he is known as Ziauddin Butt.[9]
He was educated inRawalpindi before being accepted at thePakistan Military Academy inKakul, prior joining thePakistan Army.: 175 [1] His father, Aftabuddin Butt, was a graduate of theIndian Military Academy in 1943 and was an officer of the9th Bhopal Infantry, and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1964. His uncle,Ghulam Jilani Khan, was athree-star rank army general in the Pakistan Army who played a crucial role in stabilizing theZia administration in 1980s and later in creating Pakistan Muslim League faction headed byNawaz Sharif (later known asPML-N).[13]
In the military, Ziauddin Butt was reportedly noted for his remarkable academic performance and education, first attended and graduated from thePunjab University withdoubleBSc in honors inPhysics andMathematics before joining the army in 1964.: notes [14]
After his training at thePMA Kakul, Zia decided attend theMilitary College of Engineering inRisalpur where he gainedBSc inCivil engineering with emphasis onconstruction, standing on the first place on exam markings and earnedgold medal in the graduation ceremony.: notes [14]Lt. Ziauddin was thencommissioned in theCorps of Engineers, where his career in the army is mostly spent.: 14–15 [7]
In the military, his war performance served with thecombat engineering formations during theconflict with India in1965 and later in1971.[15] After the war, Zia was selected and sent to the United States where he attended theDefence Mapping School in theFort Belvoir,Virginia, earning post-graduate diploma inTopography where he specialized as thetopographer in 1974–76.[14] In addition, he also attended theNational Defence University (NDU) where he gained hisBSc inWar studies and later attained hisMSc inStrategic studies, before rotating back to the Corps of Engineers.[15][14]
In 1989–90,Major-General Ziauddin briefly served as theGOC of the11th Infantry Division stationed inOkara before his assignment posted in theJS HQ inRawalpindi.[9]
In 1990–92,Major-General Ziauddin was appointed as the firstDirector-General of theStrategic Plans Division (SPD) headquartered in theJS HQ inRawalpindi, that an agency that oversaw the protection of thecountry's nuclear arsenals.[8]
In 1993,Major-General Ziauddin was posted on the security details for the technicians working at theKhan Research Laboratories inKahuta.[16] In 1992,Maj-Gen Ziauddin was posted at theArmy GHQ inRawalpindi, becoming theDG of theCombat Development Directorate (CDD), which he remained until 1996.: xvii [17]
On 25 February 1996,Maj-Gen Ziauddin was promoted to thethree-star rankarmy general in thePakistan Army, and appointed as field commander of theXXX Corps.[18] In 1998,Lieutenant-General Ziauddin was posted as anAdjutant-General at theArmy GHQ inRawalpindi, which he served until 1998 when GeneralPervez Musharraf was appointedchief of army staff andChairman joint chiefs at theArmy GHQ inRawalpindi.[18][19]
In 1998,Lt-Gen. Butt had been one of the most senior army generals in the military when Lt-Gen.Ali Kuli Khan and Lt-Gen. Khalid Nawaz were superseded with the four-star appointments of the junior most Lt-Gen.Musharraf.[20] He was subsequently assigned to direct theInter-Services Intelligence (ISI) by Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif, after replacing Lt-GenNaseem Rana who was posted asMaster-General Ordnance (MGO) at theArmy GHQ. Under his command, theISI is credited with major revamping and evolution of the agency and its operations.[20] On 7 October 1998,Lt-Gen. Butt departed toAfghanistan to meet withMullah Omar,Emir of Afghanistan at that time, demanded to hand over the 12 most wanted members of fanaticSipah-e-Sahaba but Mullah Omar refused.: 196–197 [21] Eventually, he authorized the ISI'sCovert Action Division teams to infiltrate in Afghanistan, which was successful, but he was unable to convince Mullah Omar to hand overOsama bin Laden toAmericans.: 197 [21]
He was also one of the senior-most generals ever to occupy the post of Intelligence Chief (DG ISI) and is credited with major revamping and evolution of the agency and its operations.[20]
He is currently[when?] serving as the elected chairman of the LGH Post Graduate Medical Institute.[22]
Despite in commanding position, General Zia did not issue orders to resist such moves in a fear of dangerous in-fighting among the army institution.[23] Both Sharif and Ziauddin were arrested by the coup-makers and taken to different locations. Ziauddin was kept in solitary confinement for two years, and was subject to three army investigations which aimed to find some element of wrongdoing on his part. Musharraf decided to use a 'scouts penalty' – a discretionary punishment not requiring a crime, to dismiss General Ziauddin from service.
Kamran Khan ofThe News wrote disparagingly about Ziauddin in a news column called "the news/national intelligence unit (NIU)".[24] General Rashid Quraishi was quoted as saying "General Ziauddin was one of the best generals in our army's history, so now we have to change the history".[25] Author Shuja Nawaz (brother of former Pakistan army chief Asif Nawaz) wrote in his book that Musharraf created a false impression that Ziauddin and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had family connections.[26]
Ziauddin Butt, as a retired general, toldCarlotta Gall, the correspondent forThe New York Times, that he thought Musharraf had arranged to hide Osama Bin Laden in Abbottabad.[27]
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Director General of theInter-Services Intelligence 1998–1999 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chief of Army StaffPakistan Army 12 October 1999 | Succeeded by |
