Fai admits he took money from ISI, denies 'toeing the line'

[1]

Kashmiri separatist leader Ghulam Nabi Fai, accused of being an ISI agent and funnelling its money into the US to influence American lawmakers on Kashmir, has admitted to taking money from Pakistan's spy agency, but claimed that he never toed its line.

During his detention hearing at the US District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, the prosecution said that Fai, the head of Kashmiri American Council, had admitted to receiving funds from the ISI.

His attorneys, Nina Ginsberg and Khurram Wahid, claimed that though Fai took money from ISI, he never toed their line, a statement which was strongly contested by the federal prosecutors during the court hearing yesterday.

The federal prosecutors told the court that 62-year-old Fai not only received USD four million from ISI, but also strictly followed their agenda on Kashmir.

Responding to questions from the defence attorney, Special FBI Agent Sarah Webb Linden told the court that Fai's agenda was heavily dictated by the ISI.

In fact, for his every meeting, agenda and speeches, he received bullet points from his ISI handlers in Pakistan. Fai did, what 'ISI asked him to do', she said.

US Attorney Gordon Kromberg said that Fai has been a ISI agent for the past two decades.

He told the court that during his interrogation after his arrest on July 19, Fai acknowledged to his links with ISI and having received money from the Pakistani spy agency.

Fai's attorneys argued that taking money from ISI does not mean that he toed their line.

Fai, who was arrested by FBI last week, was released on a USD 100,000 bond and under house arrest with a radio tag around his ankle for electronic surveillance.