Ghulam Nabi Fai arrested in US

WASHINGTON - The FBI arrested Kashmiri leader Ghulam Nabi Fai on Tuesday, accusing him of getting money from ISI and using it to lobby for the Pakistani government inside the United States, according to US media reports, citing an unnamed federal law enforcement official.
Fai, executive director of the Washington-based Kashmiri American Council (KAC), was arrested on charges of being an unregistered agent of a foreign government, the reports said. India has for many years alleged that the Council was working as a front for the Pakistani government. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is currently on a visit to India.

Fai, and another man, Zaheer Ahmad - both US citizens - were charged with conspiracy, saying they lobbied the US government without disclosing the fact that they were being funded by the Pakistani government, including its spy agency. They are accused of being unregistered agents of a foreign government. Fai was arrested on Tuesday outside Washington and Zaheer is believed to be in Pakistan, according to reports. US Department of Justice prosecutors say that Fai, as head of the Council, took part in a “decades-long scheme” to influence the US government’s position on the Kashmir dispute. They say his handlers in Pakistan allegedly funnelled millions of dollars through the Council to promote the Kashmiri cause among US politicians and other decision-makers in Washington.
Prosecutors say the Kashmiri American Council is actually run by elements of the Pakistani government, including the country’s military intelligence service. US officials say Fai has received at least $4 million from the Pakistani government since the 1990’s through Ahmad, 63, and his funding network in Pakistan.
A US Federal Bureau of Investigation official, James McJunkin, said Tuesday that foreign governments who try to influence the US by using unregistered agents “threaten our national security.”
The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has a complicated relationship with US intelligence.
But the news of Fai’s arrest came after reports that Pakistan has approved all 87 visas to CIA personnel as required in an understanding to renew cooperation between the ISI and the CIA, clearing the way for greater cooperation between the two agencies.
On Tuesday, prosecutors reportedly said Pakistani government officials reviewed Fai’s budget and directed him to make campaign donations to Congress and develop sources at the White House and State Department.
Though the charges are not related to espionage, the arrest adds new strain to the already tense relationship between the US and Pakistan, which suffered after the US found Osama bin Laden hiding inside Pakistan and killed him without telling the government there.
Both - Fai and Zaheer - face a potential sentence of five years in prison if convicted, the Justice Department said. “Mr Fai is accused of a decades-long scheme with one purpose – to hide Pakistan’s involvement behind his efforts to influence the US government’s position on Kashmir,” said US Attorney MacBride.
“His handlers in Pakistan allegedly funnelled millions through the Kashmir Centre to contribute to US elected officials, fund high-profile conferences, and pay for other efforts that promoted the Kashmiri cause to decision-makers in Washington.”
Agencies add: Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai will appear in federal court this afternoon in Alexandria, Va.
An FBI investigator says an informant told the FBI that Pakistani’s intelligence service, ISI, created the council “to propagandize on behalf of the government of Pakistan with the goal of uniting Kashmir.” A call to the Kashmiri American Council’s office in Washington went unanswered this morning.
He is listed as giving nearly $30,000 in campaign contributions to US politicians and parties over the past 15 years, about a third of it to Rep Dan Burton, R-Ind, head of the Pakistani caucus within the House.
According to the records, Burton received more than $10,000, including $2,000 each, the maximum allowable under US law, in the 2004, 2008 and 2010 congressional campaigns. In addition, Fai gave the National Republican Senatorial Committee $3,500 in 2004, $5,000 in 2006 and $1,000 in 2008. Rep Jim Pitts, R-Pa, also received $2,000 in 2004. The only Democrat to receive a significant amount of money was Rep Jim Moran, D-Va, who received $2,000 in 1998.
Among other politicians who received smaller contributions were the campaigns of Rep Dana Rohrbacher, R-Calif, $500; and the presidential campaigns of Al Gore, $250, Dennis Kucinich, $500; and Barack Obama, $250.