Spanish report ties Pakistan spy agency to Taliban

MADRID, Spain -- Western intelligence agencies have long suspected that elements of Pakistan's spy service have aided the Taliban in Afghanistan, but a Spanish government report leaked to the media appears to be the first published assessment that spells out such cooperation.

The August 2005 report says Pakistan's shadowy Inter-Services Intelligence agency helped the Taliban procure roadside bombs and may even have provided training and intelligence to the Taliban in camps set up on Pakistani soil.

The Pakistani agency, known as the ISI, planned to have the Taliban use the explosives "to assassinate high-ranking officials" in Afghanistan, the report said.

It also warned of possible advanced training camps in Pakistan "where the Taliban receive training, help and intelligence from the ISI and where they are also developing new kinds" of improvised explosive devices. The report said the Taliban had also been receiving help from al-Qaida.

The document, which was obtained by Cadena Ser radio and posted on the station's website Wednesday, was marked "confidential" and topped with the Defense Ministry seal and the title of Spain's military intelligence agency.

A Defense Ministry spokesman refused to comment on the report, saying the ministry does not discuss intelligence issues. Cadena Ser did not say how it got the document.

While there is wide agreement among Western officials that at least some elements of Pakistani intelligence have aided the Taliban, the Spanish report appears to be the first time a Western government has spelled out the link.

A 2006 report by a British Defense Ministry think-tank discussed an ISI-Taliban link and said the Pakistani spy agency was supporting terrorism in Afghanistan, but the opinions expressed in the document did not constitute official government policy.

Pakistan's army spokesman vehemently denied any connection Wednesday, saying the implication of a link between the ISI and the Taliban was "baseless, unfounded and part of a malicious, well-orchestrated propaganda campaign to malign the ISI."

The agency "is the first line of defense of Pakistan and certain quarters are attempting to weaken our national intelligence system," the spokesman, Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, told The Associated Press.

The Pakistani spy agency has helped kill or capture several top al-Qaida leaders since 2001, but there are lingering doubts about its loyalty, not least because its agents helped build up the Taliban in the 1990s.

And despite Wednesday's strong denial, a Pakistani government spokeswoman acknowledged in August that the government needs to root out Taliban sympathizers from its intelligence service.

Such agents "act on their own in ways that are not in convergence" with Pakistan's interests or policies, said the spokeswoman, Sherry Rehman. "We need to identify these people and weed them out."

U.S. intelligence agencies suspect rogue elements may still be giving Taliban militants sensitive information to aid in their growing insurgency in Afghanistan, even though officially Pakistan is a U.S. ally in fighting terrorism.

Some analysts say elements in the spy agency may want to retain the Taliban as a bulwark against longtime rival India and believe Pakistan's strategic interests are best served if Afghanistan remains a weak state.

India and Afghanistan -- and reportedly the U.S. -- suspect the ISI of involvement in the July 7 bombing outside the Indian Embassy in Kabul, which killed more than 60 people. Pakistan denies the allegations.

Fernando Reinares, a terrorism analyst at the Elcano Royal Institute in Madrid and former chief counterterrorism adviser at Spain's Interior Ministry, said the document appeared to be an internal report intended for high-level officials.

The "confidential" designation severely restricts access to the document, though it is not the highest level of secrecy available for official Spanish documents.

Reinares said Spain has developed a strong military and police intelligence operation in Pakistan, particularly since the terror attacks in Madrid on March 11, 2004. Spain has about 800 soldiers deployed in northwest Afghanistan.

Reinares said the report is in keeping with information held by other Western spy agencies.

"The intelligence services have done nothing more than confirm a reality which has also been reported by other Western agencies," he said.

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Associated Press Writer Zarar Khan in Islamabad, Pakistan, contributed to this report.