Shahid Ashraf

Shahid Ashraf (born 1947), is a retired Pakistani naval officer and former spy whose role was central in a massive military scandal took place during the second administration of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Biography

In 1995, Captain Ashraf was appointed to the Naval Headquarters (NHQ) and was appointed as the Hydrographer of the Navy Hydrographic Department under then-Admiral Mansurul Haq, the Chief of Naval Staff.

During this time, Commodore Ashraf was briefed by Naval Intelligence, led by Rear-Admiral Javed Iqbal, on the Navy receiving massive illegal financial credits from the French Navy under the auspices of Admiral Mansurul Haq. In 1998, Ashraf, along with Captains Liaquat Ali Malik and Z.U. Alvi, pleaded guilty of taking the bribes and was sentenced to imprisonment for nearly seven years. However, Ashraf maintained in the court-martial that he had sought permission of leading an attempt to catch the foreign agent who was giving bribe money to naval officers, but was not allowed to do so by the NHQ.

His case findings were later subjected to a military cover-up by Chairman Joint Chiefs General Pervez Musharraf in 2000 from the inquiries of the National Accountability Bureau. He claimed that the corruption charges leveled against the Bhutto-Zardari family, were politically motivated when the Sharif family was the largest beneficiary of the Agosta submarine deals.

Awards and decorations

Sitara-e-Basalat (Star of Good Conduct)

1990Sitara-e-Harb 1971 War (War Star 1971)Tamgha-e-Jang 1971 War Wiladat-e-Quaid-e-Azam

(100th Birth Anniversary of

Muhammad Ali Jinnah)

1976Hijri Tamgha (Hijri Medal)

1979Jamhuriat Tamgha (Democracy Medal)

1988Qarardad-e-Pakistan Tamgha (Resolution Day

Golden Jubilee Medal)

1990