Asaf Ali

Asaf Ali is a Pakistani multimillionaire and arms dealer, closely associated with Agha Hasan Abedi and the BCCI. He is described as a key figure in the Middle Eastern arms business, often brokering deals that involved governments and intelligence agencies.¹

Ali was known for his ability to make things happen in the arms trade, particularly when principals in a transaction preferred not to be seen doing business together. He was deeply involved in BCCI's operations, which facilitated arms sales, drug trafficking, and money laundering on a global scale.²

Role in Arms Deals

Ali was the agent for Dassault, the French Mirage factory, and was instrumental in the sale of Mirage jets to Pakistan, Abu Dhabi, and Libya.³ He also brokered the sale of forty-nine Mirage 2000s to India and arranged for a similar number of new and used Mirages for Pakistan.⁴ His involvement extended to other significant arms transactions, including the sale of OE-40 Mark 2 main battle tanks from Italian manufacturer Oto Melarato to Abu Dhabi, S-23 150mm artillery guns from North Korea for Dubai, and ASTROS II battlefield multiple-rocket launchers from Brazil to both Iran and Iraq.⁵

He was also involved in the sale of Argentine TAM battle tanks to Iran in 1989, and supplied Iraq with French-made Roland antiaircraft missile systems and G6 mobile artillery units from South Africa.⁶ Ali brokered Chinese ballistic-missile sales to Pakistan, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia, as well as Scud missiles from North Korea.⁷

Connections and Influence

Ali's connections were extensive, reaching high-level officials and intelligence agencies. He was a good friend of "Happy" Minwallah, a close adviser to former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, and was very close with the Pakistani air marshal.⁸ His ability to operate with apparent immunity was due to his deep ties within the Pakistani government and military.⁹

He was also involved in meetings with William J. Casey, the former Central Intelligence Agency Director, and accompanied General Zia on a trip to Washington where they met with Casey.¹⁰

Durrani's Account

Time reported in September 1991 that the imprisoned arms dealer Arif Durrani had told it: "Just as Ghaith Pharaon fronts for B.C.C.I. to purchase banks and businesses, Asaf is B.C.C.I.'s man in the weapons business"; the magazine noted that the Justice Department disputed some of Durrani's other claims, but said "another well-placed source confirmed that Asaf Ali is backed financially by B.C.C.I." An unnamed French businessman told it: "Asaf Ali has been an important Dassault agent for years, and everyone knows that." A spokesman for Dassault, Francois Prigent, said: "We don't know that man," and of BCCI, "Banks are chosen by clients, not by us." Investigators told the magazine that Ali had rerouted nearly two dozen Mirages, not yet paid for and originally brokered through BCCI, to Peru, an affair that became a political scandal there; Prigent said, "The shipment to Peru is the business of Peru; what happens to planes after we make a delivery is up to them." The magazine also reported that Ali had met William J. Casey in Washington and in Pakistan, and on one occasion attended a meeting in Washington with Casey, Agha Hasan Abedi and President Zia ul-Haq.¹¹