Hamid Gul

Hamid Gul (20 November 1936 – 15 August 2015) was a Pakistani military officer and defence analyst. A three-star general, Gul was notable for serving as the Director-General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan's premier intelligence agency, between 1987 and 1989. During his tenure, Gul played an instrumental role in directing ISI support to Afghan resistance groups against Soviet forces in return for funds and weapons from the US, during the Soviet–Afghan War, in co-operation with the CIA.

In addition, Gul was widely credited for expanding covert support to Kashmiri freedom fighters. against neighbouring rival India in the disputed Kashmir region from 1989, Gul earned a reputation as a "Godfather" of Pakistani geostrategic policies. For his role against India, he has been considered by A. S. Dulat, former director of RAW, as "the most dangerous and infamous ISI chief in Indian eyes."

In 1988, Gul, with the support of General's Aslam Beg and Asad Durrani, played a key role in forming the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI), a conservative political alliance created to prevent the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) led by Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto from winning the 1990 Pakistani general election. He appointed Nawaz Sharif as the leader of the IJI, who would later win the election with the help of the ISI.

On 15 August 2015, he died after suffering a brain haemorrhage.