AL QAEDA: Jitters in Pakistan

Transcription

1 Published on South Asia Analysis Group ( Home > AL QAEDA: Jitters in Pakistan AL QAEDA: Jitters in Pakistan Submitted by asiaadmin2 on Mon, 09/24/ :30 Paper No by B.Raman (To be read in continuation of the article titled "bin Laden Targets The Musharraf Regime" carried on February 13,2003, at Relevant extracts reproduced in the Annexure for easy reference) Between 4 and 5 AM on May 15, 2003, unidentified elements caused minor explosions in 19 retail outlets of Shell and two of Caltex in different parts of Karachi. There were no serious casualties or property damage. According to the local Police, the low intensity bombs used for the explosions were locally assembled with 15-minute timers. They were put into the dustbins placed outside the retail outlets by motorcyclists. 2. A police spokesman has been quoted as telling the media: " Nothing could be ruled out: an act of sabotage, a rift between oil transporters and the petroleum company, an act of terrorism by jihadi or Al Qaeda elements, or some other possibility. We are investigating from all angles but so far we have not reached a conclusion."

2 3.On May 17, 2003, newspaper offices in Karachi reportedly received copies of a statement purported to have been issued by an organisation called the 'Muslim United Army' (MUA) claiming responsibility for the explosions and warning of future attacks on US interests in Pakistan. It said that the MUA had been formed by one Shaikh Ahmed, who was described as its Amir, to continue the mission of Asif Ramzi. Earlier on Oct 15, 2002, some police officers and other Government officials of Karachi had received by post parcels which were found to contain explosive devices. The Lashkar-e- Jhangvi (LEJ), a Sunni extremist organisation which is a member of Osama bin Laden's International Islamic Front (IIF), had claimed the responsibility for the parcel bombs in an sent to newspaper offices. That , which was signed by Asif Ramzi of the LEJ,had also claimed that all the jihadi organisations of Pakistan had joined hands to form the MUA. According to the Karachi Police, Ramzi was subsequently killed in an accidental explosion in a house on December 19 last. 4.Though there appears to be no evidence so far to show that the explosions at the retail petrol outlets of the Shell and the Caltex were the work of Al Qaeda or any of the Pakistani members of the IIF, the Pakistani authorities have further stepped up security measures all over the country fearing fresh strikes by Al Qaeda or the IIF against US nationals or interests. The security precautions had already been strengthened outside US establishments and particularly outside the US Consulate in Karachi after the arrests on April 29, 2003,of three hard-core members of Al Qaeda in a Karachi hide-out. 5. The arrested terrorists were Waleed Muhammad bin Attash alias Tawfiq bin Attash alias Khalid Al-Attash, described as a Yemeni suspect in the attack on the US naval ship USS Cole at Aden in October, 2000, Ali Abd al-aziz also known as Ammar al- Baluchi-- said to be a nephew of Khalid Shaikh Muhammad, supposedly the operations chief of Osama bin Laden, who was arrested at Rawalpindi on March 2 and handed over to US officials---- and Abu Ammar. Aziz and Ammar are said to be Yemeni- Balochis, born of mixed Yemeni and Balochi parentage. 6. After initial interrogation by the Pakistani authorities, they were handed over to the USA's Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI),which flew them out of the country. A substantial quantity of explosives was recovered during the arrests from their hideout. The Police also arrested three or more Pakistanis who were assisting them. It was said that before coming to Karachi, they had participated in "jihad" in Afghanistan and in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) in India. 7. During the initial interrogation by the Pakistani officials,waleed is reported to have told them that last year about 75 Arab operatives of Al Qaeda had fled from Afghanistan and the bordering areas of Pakistan and taken shelter at different places in Karachi. According to him, of these, about 50 are still in hiding in Karachi. However, he denied any knowledge of the whereabouts of bin Laden. He is also reported to have stated that he and his associates were recruiting Pakistani volunteers for undertaking suicide

3 missions against American targets and that they had already recruited 12 persons from the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET), a member of the IIF. 8.The explosions of May 12 at Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, which has a strong presence of Al Qaeda and the LET, and of May 16 at Casablanca in Morocco in which Al Qaeda and the local Salafi Jihadi movement are suspected have added to the concerns of the Pakistani authorities. Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Morocco were amongst those described as apostate by bin Laden in his message of February 11, He called for their "liberation" by waging a jihad against them. He had also called for the "liberation" of Jordan, Nigeria and Yemen. 9. Ahmed Raffiki, the supreme Amir of the Salafi Jihadi movement of Morocco, has had a long history of contact with Prof. Hafeez Mohammad Sayeed, the Amir of the LET. In the late 1980s and the early 1990s, he had visited Pakistan and Afghanistan and attended the annual conventions of the LET and the Tablighi Jamaat (TJ). 10. The Pakistani authorities are reportedly worried that Al Qaeda or the Pakistani constituents of the IIF may launch a major terrorist strike against US and other Western targets before President Pervez Musharraf's forthcoming visit to the US in the second half of June in order to create an embarrassment for him. It may be recalled that they had kidnapped and murdered Daniel Pearl, the journalist of the "Wall Street Journal", before his visit to the US at the invitation of President Bush in February last year. 11. In addition to strengthening security precautions, they have also reportedly established contacts with the leaders of the Pakistani constituents of the IIF in order to request them not to attack any Western targets. In this connection, Major-General Ehtesham Zamir, the head of the political intelligence division of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI),is believed to have met Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai, Maulana Azam Tariq and Maulana Fazlur Rahman. 12.Shamzai, the head of the Binori madrasa of Karachi, is reputed to be the mentor of Mullah Mohammad Omar, the Amir of the Taliban, and bin Laden. Before the US-led war against the Taliban and Al Qaeda started on October 7,2001, Musharraf had sent a team of Mullas led by Shamzai to Kandahar to persuade Mulla Omar to hand over bin Laden to the FBI. He refused. Lt.Gen.Mahmood Ahmed, the then chief of the ISI, had accompanied the Mullas. 13. Maulana Azam Tariq is the head of the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (it has since changed its name), which is the political wing of the LEJ. In October last, Musharraf ordered the withdrawal of the cases under the Anti-Terrorism Act against him to enable him to contest successfully the elections to the National Assembly.

4 14.Maulana Fazlur Rahman is the Amir of the Jamaat-ul-Ulema Islam Pakistan. He is the mentor of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, which is also a member of the IIF, and is a close personal friend of bin Laden and Mulla Omar. (The writer is Additional Secretary (retd),cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India,and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies,Chennai, and Convenor, Advisory Committee, Observer Research Foundation (ORF), Chennai Chapter. corde@vsnl.com [1]) ANNEXURE Extracts from SAAG Paper no. 603, BIN LADEN TARGETS THE MUSHARRAF REGIME by B. Raman From India's point of view, the most important point in the message, allegedly of Osama bin Laden, broadcast by Al Jazeera on February 11, 2003, is the inclusion of Pakistan in the list of so-called anti-muslim, apostate States which have to be liberated by Muslims by waging a jihad against it. 2. He says: "We also stress to honest Muslims that they should move, incite, and mobilize the [Islamic] nation, amid such grave events and hot atmosphere so as to liberate themselves from those unjust and renegade ruling regimes, which are enslaved by the United States. They should also do so to establish the rule of God on earth. The most qualified regions for liberation are Jordan, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, the land of the two holy mosques [Saudi Arabia], and Yemen. " 3. Though the Islamic parties of Pakistan, constituting the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), which came to power in the North- West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Balochistan after the elections of October 10, 2002, and the various Pakistani components of the bin Laden-led International Islamic Front (IIF) for Jihad Against the US and Israel have been highly critical of the Pervez Musharraf regime for co-operating with the US in its war against Al Qaeda and the IIF and for allowing the US troops and intelligence agencies to operate freely in Pakistani territory against Muslims, bin Laden himself has been avoiding any criticism of the Musharraf regime since he and the surviving dregs of Al Qaeda had taken shelter in Pakistan with the complicity of Pakistan's military-intelligence establishment since the beginning of last year and were dependent on the military regime for their continued survival. 4. This is the first time that he has spoken against Pakistan and called for its "liberation" from the control of the apostates. This

5 shows that he and his dregs, who now enjoy the protection of the Governments of the NWFP and Balochistan and of a large number of retired officers of the Pakistani Army and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), no longer feel the need to avoid rubbing Musharraf on the wrong side. 5. His remarks against Pakistan also reflect the widespread suspicion in the madrasas of Pakistan that Musharraf has been secretly co-ooperating with the US against the present regimes in Baghdad and Teheran as a quid pro quo for Washington's closing its eyes to the military regime's role in transfering military nuclear technology to North Korea. Category: Papers [2] Topics: Terrorism [3] Copyright All Rights are Reserved. Source URL: Links [1] mailto:corde@vsnl.com [2] [3]