Family sources say Lt. Gen. Faiz Hameed has made the decision to retire early
A family source confirmed that Gen. Saab had made the decision to retire early.
Lt Gen Faiz was one of the six most senior generals who were given consideration for the positions of chief of army staff and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC).
General Asim Munir was named army chief by the government, who also named General Sahir Shamshad as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Lt Gen Faiz has been in the news frequently for a number of years.
He first gained notoriety while serving as the DG-C of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), which is responsible for counterintelligence. In November 2017, the government and Tehreek-e-Labaik (TLP) signed an agreement that included his name to put an end to the 21-day sit-in at Faizabad.
He later received a promotion to Lieutenant General and then went back to running the ISI as its director. He had been charged by the PML-N with trying to persuade the courts to convict its leaders.
When then-premier Imran Khan wanted to keep him on as DG ISI but Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa had other ideas, he was at the centre of yet another controversy.
Gen. Faiz is regarded as a brilliant officer by those who have worked and interacted with him.
The Chief of General Staff, Lt Gen Azhar Abbas, has already made the decision to retire. Gens. Azhar and Faiz were scheduled to retire in April of the following year.
According to certain sources, another general might leave the army sooner rather than later. This implies that the new army chief will assemble his own group from the outset.
He would have the opportunity to name his personnel to the critical positions of Chief of General Staff and Rawalpindi Corps.
Generals who weren’t replaced by others rarely choose to retire earlier than expected.
