in october 2004, lieutenant-general ashfaq kayani was appointed as the director general of directorate of inter-services intelligence ("isi"), in place of general ehsan-ul-haq, who was promoted as the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff committee. general kayani directed the isi operations and her operatives during a bleak period, with widely spread insurgencies in north-west pakistan and balochistan, disclosing of the nuclear proliferation case, and waves of suicide attacks throughout pakistan emanating from the northwestern tribal belt. in his final days at the "isi", he also led the talks with benazir bhutto for a possible power sharing deal with musharraf. in october 2007, after three years, he was replaced at the isi by lt gen nadeem taj.