Mushaf Ali Mir
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| Mushaf Ali Mir | |
|---|---|
| March 5, 1947 – February 20, 2003 (aged 55) | |
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| Nickname | 'Mashoo' |
| Place of birth | Lahore, Pakistan |
| Place of death | Kohat, NWFP, Pakistan |
| Allegiance |  Pakistan |
| Service/branch | Pakistan Air Force |
| Years of service | 1967-2003 |
| Rank | Air Chief Marshal |
| Commands held | Base Commander Sargodha Airbase AOC, Southern Air Command Chairman, PAC Board Chief of Air Staff |
| Battles/wars | Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Soviet Afghan war |
| Awards | Sitara-e-Basalat Sitara-e-Imtiaz (Military) Hilal-e-Imtiaz (Military) Nishan-e-Imtiaz (Military) |
Air Chief Marshal Mushaf Ali Mir (March 5, 1947 – February 20, 2003) was chief of air staff of the Pakistan Air Force from 20 November, 2000 until his death on February 20, 2003 when the PAF Fokker F-27 he was traveling in, crashed near Kohat, Pakistan. He was succeeded by ACM Kaleem Saadat.
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[edit] Personal life
ACM Mushaf Ali Mir was born in Lahore, and was one of nine children of a middle class Kashmiri family of Shia origin. His father, Mamu Farzand, was a calligrapher who died when Mushaf was young. He went to Government Wattan Islamia High School, Lahore.[1]
[edit] Initial military training
ACM Mushaf Ali Mir was commissioned in the PAF as a GD(P) (fighter pilot) on January 20, 1967. He was a graduate of Flying Instructors School, Risalpur Airbase and Combat Commanders School, Sargodha. His key appointments include Officer Commanding No.1 OCU Mianwali Airbase, Officer Commanding No.33 Wing Minhas Airbase, Kamra, and Base Commander Sargodha Airbase (now called Mushaf Airbase. He did his staff college course, PAF Staff College, Karachi (now PAF Air War College), Faisal Airbase, Karachi. He did his NDC course National Defence College, Islamabad.
[edit] Staff Appointments
During his career Mushaf served as the Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Plans) at the Air Headquarters at Chaklala and also served as Chief Project Director of Project Falcon (F-16) and Green Project Flash (Mirage 2000-5). He was later assigned as the Air Officer Commanding, Southern Air Command based in Karachi and his final assignment before promotion to CAS was Chairman of the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex Board at Kamra.
[edit] Chief of Air Staff
ACM Mushaf Mir superseded five senior Air Marshals to become the Chief of the Air Staff. He was promoted by General Pervez Musharraf to become the 16th Chief of the Air Staff on November 20, 2000.
During his tenure as Air chief, the PAF's F-6 aircraft were retired from service. Some of them were given to the Bangladesh Air Force
Mir opposed musharaf plan to give air bases to Usa after 9/11.
[edit] Death in the Air Crash
On February 20, 2003, the Pakistani Air Chief died along with his wife Bilquis Mir and all other 15 officers, when their Fokker F-27 crashed during a routine flight to Kohat Airbase. The casualties included other high ranking officials of the Air Force including two PSOs (principal staff officers of the ranks of AVMS) and all of Air Chief's personal staff officers including three Air Commodores and one Group Captain. The official cause of crash was given to be pilot error amid bad weather conditions.
[edit] Conspiracy theories
According to journalist and conspiracy theorist Gerald Posner, the death of Mushaf Ali Mir was not an accident but an act of sabotage. The author claims in his book Why America Slept: The Failure to Prevent 9/11, that Osama bin Laden struck a deal with Pakistani ISI through Mushaf Ali Mir in 1996 to get protection, arms and supplies for al-Qaeda. The meeting was blessed by the Saudi's through Prince Turki bin Faisal Al Saud, the then intelligence chief. However, after 9/11, and reversal of Pakistani and Saudi stances favoring Taliban and al-Qaeda, the three Saudi princes associated with the deals died within days and seven months after that Mushaf Ali Mir's plane crashed near the Pakistan-Afghan border. Prince Turki bin Faisal, on the other hand was removed as intelligence chief and sent as Ambassador to United Kingdom during the same time.[2] No evidence has been bought forward to conclusively proof Posner's account of events. According to some reports CIA was involved in Mir plane crash
[edit] References
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Pervaiz Mehdi Qureshi |
Chief of Air Staff (PAF) 2000-2003 |
Succeeded by Kaleem Saadat |
