ISLAMABAD, Oct 4 (AFP) - President Pervez Musharraf has appointed a new chief of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) which is closely involved in the hunt for Al-Qaeda-linked militants, the military said Monday.
Lieutenant General Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani has been named director general of the ISI, replacing Ehsanul Haq who has been appointed chairman of the armed forces' joint chiefs of staff.
Musharraf in a major reshuffle late Saturday promoted Karachi army chief Lieutenant General Ahsan Saleem Hayat to deputy army chief, replacing General Muhammad Yusuf Khan who is retiring next week.
The ISI has tracked down militants, including some key operatives who had sneaked into Pakistan after the fall of the Taliban regime in neighbouring Afghanistan.
Musharraf in a foreign policy U-turn abandoned the Taliban in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. The Taliban had sheltered Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network which carried out the attacks.
Pakistan has since become a key ally in the US-led war against terrorism.