Akhtar Abdur Rahman
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General Akhtar Abdur Rahman (Urdu: اختر عبد الرحمن) was the Director of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan during the 1980s and was the mastermind behind the Afghan Jihad against the Soviet Union with the support of USA. He was a close friend of CIA chief William Casey.
On promotion to the rank of General, he was appointed Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Pakistan, succeeding the famed full General Rahimuddin Khan. Akhtar's own successor as Director General ISI was Lt Gen Hameed Gul.
He died in a plane crash that also killed then-President Zia-ul-Haq and many other top generals heading the Afghan War, along with an American ambassador to Pakistan. It is suspected that the assassination was a co-ordination agreed by Washington and Moscow and carried out by the elements known specially to CIA due to their network capability in Pakistan. This has not been proven.
Akhtar's son, Humayun Akhtar Khan, is the Minister of Commerce in the current government headed by Pervez Musharraf. Akhtar has been one of the most succesful generals in Pakistans long history. It has been argued that he never got the due respect, he had deserved to get. He is known all around Pakistan as a very honest and able general. He is seen as a hero all over the country. After all, according to many, he was the single reason the soviets stayed out of Afghanistan. He was the fuel to the Afghan Jihad against Soviet rule. His Legacy lives on, his grandson Tariq Akhtar Abdur Raheem and great grandson Sukhjeet Shahibzada Abdur Raheem Idbihi are the leaders of his legacy. Sukhjeet Shahibzada Abdur Raheem Idbihi who now known to be 19 or 20 years of age had once controled 50,000 Mujahideen fighters. He had fought for the freedom for his tribe and its people, but since the Pakistani government has made a truce between the tribal leaders, Sukhjeet Shahibzada Abdur Raheem Idbihi had given up violent acts and had moved on. This doesn't mean he gave up arms, Mujahideen still exist to this very day and they still make their enemy's fear. The latest report from the Pakistani ISI, states there are still around 500,000-800,000 Mujahideen fighters in Pakistan alone, but the majority are not active.
