ISLAMABAD, Sept 28: The corridors of powers will be abuzz for the next couple of days when the important decision of who will take over Pakistan’s premier civilian intelligence agency, the Intelligence Bureau (IB), after the retirement of Javed Noor on October 1.

Mr Noor, a grade 22 officer, took over as Director General of IB on May 17, 2009, replacing Dr Shoaib Suddle. Before then he was the Inspector General of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Police. He was the second consecutive civilian chief of the agency after a long stint of military men who headed the organisation before and during the Musharraf regime.

The prime minister had offered an extension to Mr Noor but unlike his counterpart in the military-run Inter-Services Intelligence, he politely turned down the offer.

The IB chief’s appointment has always been a politically important issue and this time too is likely to be motivated by political consideration more so because the country will soon be in an election year.

In a summary sent to Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, sources say, two candidates have been nominated.

“One is Javed Iqbal, the Inspector General of Punjab Police, and the second is his subordinate Aftab Sultan, Deputy Inspector General,” a source privy to the development told this reporter. Both the officers have extensive experience of serving in the field of intelligence.

Javed Iqbal is a former head of IB in Karachi. When he was deputed as Additional Director General of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), he led the investigation into the Mumbai terror attacks. The result was the arrest of Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and other key members of Lashkar-e-Taiba.

The second contender, Aftab Sultan, is a grade 21 officer who has served in the Special Branch, the intelligence wing of police, for eight years. He carried out investigation into the Punjab Bank scam.

The sources said that there were many aspirants for the post, police and military officers from across Pakistan, including Inspector-General of Police Sindh, Wajid Durrani, IGP Balochistan Rao Amin Hashim, Commandant of the National Policy Academy Shabbir Shah and Brigadier Mansur, currently serving at the Presidency.

According to one analyst, nominations matter little if past precedents are kept in mind. “They can appoint just anyone,” he said.

“Foremost is the issue of counter-terrorism, then the issue of political survival of the current regime, and thirdly liaising between the two major political parties (PPP and PML-N).

Another issue, though talked about only in muted tones, he said was about the influence of the military on the civilian spy agency.

“For over a decade, the IB was run by serving and retired military officers and there is still a sizeable number of personnel with links to the ISI. Perhaps one consideration would be to appoint someone powerful and independent who can steer the civilian intelligence body out of the influence of its military counterpart.”