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Revision as of 20:17, 6 February 2009
Lieutenant General Fazle Haq was a career Pakistan Army officer and the former governor and chief minister of the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan. He served as a Governor throughout the military rule of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq from 1978 till 1985 and also served as the caretaker Chief Minister of the province in the later half of 1988.
Army career
As an army officer, Fazle Haq was commissioned in the Guides Cavalry (Frontier Force) regiment of the Armoured Corps. During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, then Maj Fazle Haq was part of the Guides Cavalry in the 6th Armoured Division, when the regiment launched a two squadron attack at Phillaurah on 11 September. The attack was targeted against the Indian 1st Armoured Division, and as a result both sides faced heavy casualties. This was presumed a Pakistani victory, as the fighting did not resume until 13 September, as the enemy was more cautious. However, it was a Pyrrhic victory.[1]
As a Lt Col, Fazle Haq commanded his own regiment, the Guides Cavalry during 1968 and 1969. Then by 1975, as a Maj Gen, he took over the 6th Armoured Division stationed at Kharian.[1] Now promoted to Lt Gen, Haq was the commander of XI Corps at Peshawar from January 1978 to March 1980. By this time, General Zia-ul-Haq had imposed a martial law in the country, and Fazle Haq was concurrently appointed the Governor of the North-West Frontier Province. After retirement from the army in 1980, he stayed on as the governor, finally relinquishing the charge in December 1985 when the martial law was lifted in the country.
Controversies during governorship
During his tenure as the governor of the province bordering Afghanistan during the Soviet war in Afghanistan, Fazle Haq was considered "closest confidant and the de-facto overlord of the mujaheddin guerrillas." He allowed hundreds of heroin refineries to setup in the province. By 1982, Haq was listed with Interpol as an international drug trafficker, but he also became known as a CIA asset. Despite his worsening reputation, visiting US politicians such as CIA Director William J. Casey and Vice President George H. W. Bush continued to meet with him when they visited Pakistan. Haq moved his heroin money through the now defunct Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI).[2]
References
- ^ a b A.H. Amin. "Interview with Brig (retd) Shamim Yasin Manto" Defence Journal, February 2002
- ^ Profile: Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI)