Name Tariq Aziz | ||
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Tariq Aziz (Urdu: طارق عزیز) is a close-aide of Pakistani ex-President Pervez Musharraf and the former secretary of the National Security Council. He resigned from the post of NSC secretariat when Musharraf resigned from presidency on 18 August 2008. A former income tax officer, he was a college buddy of Pervez Musharraf, since both of them went to FC College, Lahore. Because of his close proximity with the military coup-maker, General Musharraf appointed him as the political wheeler and dealer whose job was to "knock together a pro-military alliance." He was aided by Major General Syed Ehtasham Zamir, the head of ISI's political wing, in maneuvering/coercing a list of 'loyal' candidates, before and after 2002 general elections.
The list of such politicians included former two-time chief minister Aftab Ahmad Sherpao, who fled Pakistan after the 1999 military takeover, but later was cleared of such crimes by anti-corruption agency NAB set up by the military regime, once Sherpao decided to support it. He was later made Minister of Water and Power and then the Interior Minister. Another such politician was Makhdoom Faisal Saleh Hayat, a former Pakistan Peoples Party stalwart, who had been charged with defaulting on the repayment of loans from state-owned banks and had spent months in prison. He was then inducted in the pro-establishment Pakistan Muslim League (Q) and served first as the Interior Minister and then as Environment Minister.
Tariq Aziz is the Chairman of Lahore Race Club.