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| Senator Rehman Malik | |
|---|---|
| Interior Minister of Pakistan | |
| President | Asif Ali Zardari |
| Prime Minister | Yousaf Raza Gillani |
| Preceded by | Hamid Nawaz Khan |
| Director-General Federal Investigation Agency | |
| In office 1993–1996 |
|
| President | Wasim Sajjad Farooq Leghari |
| Prime Minister | Benazir Bhutto |
| Personal details | |
| Born | A. Rehman Malik December 12, 1951 village jajjay Sialkot, Punjab |
| Nationality | Pakistani |
| Political party | Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) |
| Residence | Islamabad, Pakistan |
| Alma mater | University of Karachi (B.S. and M.Sc.) |
| Profession | FIA intelligence officer and politician |
| Cabinet | Cabinet of Pakistan |
| Portfolio | Senator |
| Religion | Islam - Muslim |
| Notable Awards | Sitara-i-Shujaat |
| Website | Rehman Malik |
Senator A. Rehman Malik (Urdu: رحمان ملک ) (born 12 December 1951) is a Pakistani politician, member of the Senate of Pakistan, and the current Interior Minister of Pakistan under the Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani administration. He was upgraded to latter position from Adviser to the Prime Minister on Interior Affairs and Narcotics Control after he was elected in the Senate of Pakistan.[1] He took the oath as the federal minister on 27 April 2009.[2][3]
Malik is a former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intelligence officer who rose to head the FIA during Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's second tenure. He later joined the Pakistan Peoples Party and was the trusted lieutenant and chief security officer (CSO) of Benazir Bhutto.
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Malik was born in Jajjay, in Sialkot. He began his career as an immigration officer and protector of immigrants in the Rawalpindi office. He became the top man in the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in the mid 1990s.[2] During 26 years of active service as an officer of FIA, he held the post of Additional Director General and headed various regional offices of the department such as Crime Zone Peshawar, Immigration, Interpol and National Security Cell. He was associated with anti-terrorism and anti-money launching operations of the FIA which earned him recognition by the international law enforcement community. He was bestowed with Sitara-e-Shujaat in 1995.
Benazir Bhutto appointed Malik as the additional director-general of the FIA which then launched a secret war against the Islamist elements in Pakistan, which amounted to a direct attack on the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).[4] The Pakistani military was equally dismayed by reports of FIA contacts with the Israeli secret service, the Mossad, to investigate Islamist terrorists. The FIA leadership under Bhutto also angered Taliban supporters within the establishment, because they allowed the extradition of Ramzi Yousef to the US for trial on the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.[4]
One of the first acts of President Leghari after dismissing Benazir Bhutto on 5 November 1996 was to imprison Ghulam Asghar, head of the FIA, on non specified corruption charges, and Malik, Additional Director General of FIA, was also arrested.[4]
In 2011 Karachi University awarded him an honorary PhD.
In November 1998, Malik termed the termination of his service by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif an "act of retaliation" because of the 200-page report, which he had sent to then President Rafiq Tarar, disclosing large-scale corruption of Sharif family.U Malik then fled to London and made corruption accusation against the Sharif brothers.[5]
With the dismissal of the government of the PPP, Malik left the country and settled in the United Kingdom where he started his business and became a business tycoon. He assisted Benazir Bhutto during her exile, and he was the chief of the security of Bhutto when she returned home in 2007.[2]
Malik emerged as the deal broker in Benazir-Musharraf reconciliation talks in Abu Dhabi in July 2007, and replaced Makhdoom Amin Fahim as the most trusted political lieutenant of Benazir Bhutto. Fahim was Benazir's aide since 2002, when he formed the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians and acted as the leader of PPP in the absence of Benazir and her husband Asif Ali Zardari. It was also reported in The News that after Malik took over the role of top "adviser and broker" of Benazir on important matters ranging from politics to business, Fahim seemed to have become an "obsolete political commodity."[6]
He was made an adviser on interior affairs and narcotics control to the PPP Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani, with the status of Federal Minister. He was later upgraded as Interior Minister of Pakistan.
In 2007 three alleged case of corruption against Malik were dropped under the amnesty of the National Reconciliation Ordinance.[7]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Hamid Nawaz Khan |
Interior Minister of Pakistan 2008 – present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |