Was Gen Zia and Gen Akhtar murdered ?

Behind the plane crash that killed Gen Zia and Gen Akhter lurk the specters of sabotage – and cover – up Facts occurred before and up till 17 August 1988
Also marked was Gen AKhter Abdul Rehman , the likely successor to Zia . No one understand better than President Zia Akhter’s astounding accomplishments in Afghanistan .
After the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979 , Zia ordered Akhter to organize a clandestine Afghan resistance . The General provided briliant , setting up secret supply lines , training camps and sanctuaries for the mujahedin and pulling together more than 40 guerrilla factions into a seven party alliance .
In July 1988 , Zia spoke privately to the General with such emotion that his eyes teared , ” You have wrought a miracale ” , he said ,” I can give you nothing worthy of your achievement . Only God can reward you . “
Zia and Akhter had indeed helped accomplish a miracle – the Soviet defeat in Afghanistan . If that defeat were to be reversed , both men had to be eliminated .
Gen Akhter had not planned to attend the demonstration . But on the late afternoon of August 16 , a trusted subordinate conferred with Akhter in his quarters . Akther phoned Zia to say he had just acquired vital information . Zia told the general to brief him during flight the next day . Thus what Akhter was told by his aide put him aboard the president aircraft on the morning of August 17 .
This C – 130 could have landed on the large civilian air field at Multan near demonstration area . instead it went to Bahawalpur, where the air field was too small to accomodate two C – 130s . Pak two had to remain at the Chaklala base . Thus there was no doubt about which plane the president would take back to Chaklala .
John Barron
” You are in grave danger . In the name of God , take precautions ” .
Pakistan President Mohammad Zia ul Haq heard this warning at a secret cabinet session in June 1988 from a respected senior minister
M.A.K Khattak . Hours before Khattak had learned from a trusted source inside Afhanistan that a special assassination unit of WAD ( the Afghan secret police controlled by the Soviet KGB ) had a list of Pakistani leaders to be liquidated . Heading the list President Zia . Also marked was Gen AKhter Abdul Rehman , the likely successor to Zia . No one understand better than President Zia Akhter’s astounding accomplishments in Afghanistan . In July 1988 , Zia spoke privately to the General with such emotion that his eyes teared , ” You have wrought a miracale ” , he said ,” I can give you nothing worthy of your achievement . Only God can reward you . ” Zia and Akhter had indeed helped accomplish a miracle – the Soviet defeat in Afghanistan . If that defeat were to be reversed , both men had to be eliminated .
After the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979 , Zia ordered Akhter to organize a clandestine Afghan resistance . The General provided briliant , setting up secret supply lines , training camps and sanctuaries for the mujahedin and pulling together more than 40 guerrilla factions into a seven party alliance .
After U.S arms began to flow through the supply lines , the course of the war changed . With the soviets on the defensive . Gen Akhter coordinated mujahedin attacks in which they slaughtered the Russians in battle . To force Zia to stop supporting tht mojahedin , the Soviets initiated a terror compaign against Pakistan . , killing innocent civilians in a series of explosions . In 1987 alone , WAD attacks killed 234 and wounded 1200 , about half of all the deaths in injuries from terrorism worldwide . But Zia did not flinch . The stream of arms and supplies to mujahedin swelled , and their victories multiplied . Finally last year , Gorachev bagan to withdraw his troops . But if the mujahedin were denied combat supplies , then Kabul’s communist regime might survive . So the Soviets stepped up their threats against Pakistan and Zia .
Zia had every reason to take the threats seriously since 1981 at least four attempts had been made on his life . In the summer of 1988 , according to a Zia aid , a Soviet emissary again tried intimidation . Zia responded , ” Your threats are futile . As a good moslem , I believe that the day of my death is fixed . There is nothing i can do to change it . “
In early August , Zia make a fateful decision . For some time a subordinate had urged him to attend a demonstration of a new American tank on August 17 at a military base in eastern Pakistan .Though he expressed to his family and aides mystification at the persistence of this person , he finally agreed to make the trip – acquiescing to arguments that his presence would buoy the morale of the armed forces. In retrospect , there were troubling signs that the trip was an artfully laid trip .
Gen Akhter had not planned to attend the demonstration . But on the late afternoon of August 16 , a trusted subordinate conferred with Akhter in his quarters . Akther phoned Zia to say he had just acquired vital information . Zia told the general to brief him during flight the next day . Thus what Akhter was told by his aide put him aboard the president aircraft on the morning of August 17 . The Pakistan air force customarily provided Zia with two lockheed C – 130 prop jets . To ward off would be assassins , security officers often waited until the last minute to announce which he would board .
Two C – 130s waited at the Chaklala air base near the city of Rawalpindi on August 17 . When officers escorted Zia , Akhter , U.S Ambassador Arnold Raphel , Brig . Gen . Herbert Wassom , the U.S Defence representative to Pakistan , and a number of senior Pakistani generals aboard on of the planes , it was automatically designated Pak One .
This C – 130 could have landed on the large civilian air field at Multan near demonstration area . instead it went to Bahawalpur, where the air field was too small to accomodate two C – 130s . Pak two had to remain at the Chaklala base . Thus there was no doubt about which plane the president would take back to Chaklala .
According to personnel present , while Zia and his entourage were at the demonstartion , three different forces secured the airfield . Regular airport and military police watched the approached ; and army detachment formed a cordon about 400 yards from Pak one ; local civilian police guarded the aircraft . This odd arrangements divided authority . A local police official saw two civilians enter the plane , ostensibly to perform minor repairs . He was contemptuous of the ease with which they boarded , but he did not have the power to challenge them .
Pak one’s pilot , wing commander Mashood Farrukh , its co pilot Sajid Chaudhry , an engineer and a navigator were completing preflight checks when the presidential party returned about 3:30 P.m. In clear, tranquil weather , Pak one lifted off at 3:46 p.m. From the Bawalpur control tower , airport manager Shaheen Fazil tried to contact the pilots . Receiving no answer . Shaheen asked Pak two , which had flown down Rawalpindi , to try to raise Pak one . In response to its call , co – pilot Sajid said only , ” Standby ! Standby ! The pilot of Pak two and a second plane waiting to take off from Bahawalpur heard a faint transmission from Pak One . Both pilots thought the voice was that of Zia’s aide Brigadier Najib Ahmed . He cried : ” Mashood ! Mashood ! what are you doing .?” These were the last words heard from the president’s plane . Roughly two minutes after take off , witnesses on the ground saw that Pak One was pitching wildly . Both pilot and co – pilot wore small microphones and could have contacted ground control . Yet for the next two minutes , while the aircraft bucked violently , no one transmitted a word . Just before 3:51 P.m about eight miles from the airport , the plane plunged into a 65 degree dive and crashed head on into the earth . Every one on board was instantly killed .

Reader’s Digest
December 1989
Page 17 – 19