Who is Brig (Retd) Niaz who is being given such prominence in the media. He is reputed to be an instructor of General (Retd) Musharaf and currently is being viewed as the Grand Deal maker of Musraraf's dying dispensation.
Brig. Niaz who hails from village Dharnial Tehsil Pind Dadan (where majority profess to be followers of Ahmadi sect) was a sepoy clerk in the Army. Due to shortage of officers after partition the Army started a scheme whereby sepoy clerks were inducted into the officer ranks. Brig Niaz was amongst those who benefited from this scheme. Brig Niaz was amongst the three Brigadiers who played General Zia's game very cleverly in 1977 in Lahore during the PNA movement in the sense that they refused to come to the aid of an elected civil Government when it wanted to quell violence unleashed by the Mullah dominated alliance. The lawlessness in the country was later used as a pretext to impose Martial Law. Contrast this to the officer's corps willingness to go on killing a spree in Baluchistan, FATA, and Swat etc in order to save the unelected Government of an Army dictator. In retrospect the refusal to obey a civilian Governments order during a mullah lead campaign also confirms existence of Mullah "“ Military Alliance.
After retirement from the Army Brig. Niaz started a food outlet in Lalkurti area of Rawalpindi Cantonment. His luck changed when General Zia Ul Haq summoned him and Brig (Retd) Ashraf Gondal (the other Brig at Lahore in 1977) and introduced them to the executives of Swedish (Ericsson) and Swiss (Orlikon) firms who were in the process of receiving huge Defense supply orders from the Army. Both these Brigadiers acted as front men for Zia Ul Haq. Multimillion dollars orders were placed for Law Altitude Defense Radars (LADS) with Ericsson of Sweden and for anti aircraft guns Orlikons with the Swiss Company. It is reported that these two deals netted a commission of nearly 100 million US Dollars which these Brigadiers shared with Zia Ul Haq.
After becoming a millionaire in Dollar terms Brig. Niaz started living lavishly and entertaining lavishly. Parvaiz Musharaf was amongst the group of officers who were regularly supplied with all sorts of booze and other things in life courtesy the Brigadier who also employed Col. (Retd) Aslam Cheema a course mate and best friend (closer then Tariq Aziz) of Musharraf and after Musharraf's uncle retired he too was appointed as an office Manager in Niaz's Business.
After Musharaf became the President Cheema became the main Defense supplier and a partner of Niaz. Both have managed to snatch the agencies of old established defense agents by forcing the suppliers to change agents if they wanted business in Pakistan. Over the last four years Cheema and Niaz (both Ahmedi's) have managed to secure following businesses:-
1) Supply of tank engines for Al - Khalid & Al- Zarar tanks from Ukraine "“ worth nearly 500 millions US Dollars.
2) Supply of Early warning system for Air force from SAAB Sweden worth 1.2 Billion US Dollars. This deal signed one week after the earthquake of October 2005 was originally for 650 Million US Dollars. Niaz over invoiced it by US Dollars 550 million. What a rape of a poor country's resources.
In addition Niaz & Cheema are now the biggest contractor/suppliers in Civil Departments. One of their front Companies will be building the new GHQ worth billions of rupees. Obviously Mush gets a big share of this bounty.
Niaz's recommendation matters the most in securing promotions and good postings both in the Army as well as on the Civilian side.
Brig Niaz Ahmad is the one who worked out details for return of the Sharif family to Pakistan in November last year. He assisted the team of the Presidential camp first in London and then in Jeddah for making their return smooth, the sources said.
The president's former Chief of Staff General Hamid Javed led the Presidential team in the initial talks. The sources said that President Pervez Musharraf had marathon meetings with Brigadier Niaz Ahmad in Rawalpindi this week where vital national interests, especially the precarious security situation came up for discussion.
The brigadier is widely respected in the army as he has taught almost every general currently sitting at the helm of affairs in the GHQ. He is in his late 80s and has unblemished record during the service of armed forces of Pakistan. He resigned on 10 April 1977 in Lahore when he was commanding the troops and martial law was imposed. He was ordered to fire at the people protesting against the government but instead of shooting at the innocent people he opted to resign there and then.
In an exclusive chat with The News, Brig Niaz Ahmad said Friday evening that he has received a call from Shahbaz Sharif, who will be visiting him on Saturday. "I have no political ambition. I wish to serve my country that need healing handling. Every one of us must play our role at this critical juncture," the brigadier said in a sentimental tone.
Brig Niaz has planned to leave for London tomorrow on a private visit. If there is any follow up meeting at a different level, it would take place before his departure for the UK, the sources opined.