ISLAMABAD, Aug 23: A strategic institute in the city on Tuesday demanded that the British and Pakistani governments reveal the identity of the woman defence academic linked to the disgraced British military attache in Islamabad, Brig Andrew Durcan.

Dr Shireen Mazari, director general of the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI), making the demand told a press conference that naming the woman was needed to save other academics from unwarranted suspicion in the guessing game.

Brig Durcan was removed from his diplomatic assignment some six months ago for carrying on “an inappropriate relationship” with a female defence academic of Pakistan, according to the British media.

Dr Mazari called the press conference to reject a local newspaper report that a researcher of Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad was the “attractive” academic behind the Brig Durcan’s fall from grace.

She asserted that no researcher of her institute was involved in Brig Durcan’s affair and dismissed the report as “absolutely baseless, wrong and a lie”.

However, in response to a question, she admitted that a researcher with the initials of M.K was employed in ISSI but categorically stated that the young researcher in question had never met the British military attache.

According to the report, Brig Durcan had travelled to England many times to spend time with academic M.K. who was suspected to have relations with him.

Dr Mazari claimed the wrong identity of the female defence academic might have been fed to the media by vested interests, including the British officials, to malign the reputation of the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad because of its staunch nationalistic stands.

She said she had been critical of the British government’s policies in her recent articles and the dragging of ISSI’s name might be part of a strategy to damage the ISSI’s global reputation.