Is Pakistan still a launch-pad for terrorism?(Daily Times says yes)
Is Pakistan still a launch-pad for terrorism?
While no seminary in Pakistan is willing to admit that the three London bombers ever contacted them, intelligence personnel in Pakistan accept that all three came to Pakistan between November last year and February this year. Muhammad Siddiq Khan (30) and Shehzad Tanweer (22) are said to have stayed in Lahore or other cities of the Punjab. Haseeb Hussain (18), the youngest of the bombers, is believed to have visited Karachi. Six months after their return from Pakistan they committed the acts of terrorism that may change Europe more than the tragedy of 9/11. In these six months they are presumed to have learnt from an expert how to make explosives in accordance with the instructions in captured Al Qaeda manuals.
The police in Pakistan have gone looking in the cities where the spoor of the terrorists has led them: Lahore, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Toba Tek Singh and Kamalia. Four men have been reportedly arrested on suspicion from the last three cities while at least one person has been detained in Lahore. The international press has moved in and is looking for stories to file. In the coming week, a lot of negative light will shine on Pakistan and its private-sector religious institutions. With India claiming to have proof of terrorist training camps in Pakistan, and Kabul complaining of infiltration by “Pakistani” Taliban warriors, Islamabad will be on the defensive. Worse, the 24 Taliban (three of them Uzbeks and one Sudanese) killed inside Pakistani territory last week by US forces have been given an emotional burial in North Waziristan attended by thousands of local tribesmen. Meanwhile, the army has once again gone into the Tribal Areas looking for new infiltrators, said to belong to Al Qaeda, after failing to catch Abdullah Mehsud, who began his killing spree in Pakistan after being released by the Americans from the infamous Guantanamo Bay prison last year.
The police have gone to the cities in Punjab known for their links with Al Qaeda and its ancillary militias, now banned but functioning under new names. That all was not well with our security measures was made clear by President Pervez Musharraf when, addressing senior police officers last week, he asked them to go after the banned but still functioning “renamed” militias. He came across as admitting that this was something he did not know and had had just been briefed about. (One can’t imagine how an IG will approach the supreme leader of the Lashkar with handcuffs even if President Musharraf specifically orders him to do so, which is unlikely.) The truth is that at least three terrorist-jihadi organisation (whose members tried to kill him earlier) have functioned quite openly, and a usually sympathetic Urdu press has been referring to them freely after realising that the government did not mind such reporting too much. At least one leader in Lahore steadily appears on the pages of the Urdu press with statements condemning President Musharraf’s “pro-US and pro-India” policies. So powerful is his “renamed” organisation that he invites opposition politicians to his impressive gatherings at a new venue in the city, which the Punjab government has allowed him. Another “leader”, personally close to Osama bin Laden, has never left the comfort of his luxurious house in Islamabad. Although he has been “picked up” periodically, he has never been de-commissioned.
While no seminary in Pakistan is willing to admit that the three London bombers ever contacted them, intelligence personnel in Pakistan accept that all three came to Pakistan between November last year and February this year. Muhammad Siddiq Khan (30) and Shehzad Tanweer (22) are said to have stayed in Lahore or other cities of the Punjab. Haseeb Hussain (18), the youngest of the bombers, is believed to have visited Karachi. Six months after their return from Pakistan they committed the acts of terrorism that may change Europe more than the tragedy of 9/11. In these six months they are presumed to have learnt from an expert how to make explosives in accordance with the instructions in captured Al Qaeda manuals.
The police in Pakistan have gone looking in the cities where the spoor of the terrorists has led them: Lahore, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Toba Tek Singh and Kamalia. Four men have been reportedly arrested on suspicion from the last three cities while at least one person has been detained in Lahore. The international press has moved in and is looking for stories to file. In the coming week, a lot of negative light will shine on Pakistan and its private-sector religious institutions. With India claiming to have proof of terrorist training camps in Pakistan, and Kabul complaining of infiltration by “Pakistani” Taliban warriors, Islamabad will be on the defensive. Worse, the 24 Taliban (three of them Uzbeks and one Sudanese) killed inside Pakistani territory last week by US forces have been given an emotional burial in North Waziristan attended by thousands of local tribesmen. Meanwhile, the army has once again gone into the Tribal Areas looking for new infiltrators, said to belong to Al Qaeda, after failing to catch Abdullah Mehsud, who began his killing spree in Pakistan after being released by the Americans from the infamous Guantanamo Bay prison last year.
The police have gone to the cities in Punjab known for their links with Al Qaeda and its ancillary militias, now banned but functioning under new names. That all was not well with our security measures was made clear by President Pervez Musharraf when, addressing senior police officers last week, he asked them to go after the banned but still functioning “renamed” militias. He came across as admitting that this was something he did not know and had had just been briefed about. (One can’t imagine how an IG will approach the supreme leader of the Lashkar with handcuffs even if President Musharraf specifically orders him to do so, which is unlikely.) The truth is that at least three terrorist-jihadi organisation (whose members tried to kill him earlier) have functioned quite openly, and a usually sympathetic Urdu press has been referring to them freely after realising that the government did not mind such reporting too much. At least one leader in Lahore steadily appears on the pages of the Urdu press with statements condemning President Musharraf’s “pro-US and pro-India” policies. So powerful is his “renamed” organisation that he invites opposition politicians to his impressive gatherings at a new venue in the city, which the Punjab government has allowed him. Another “leader”, personally close to Osama bin Laden, has never left the comfort of his luxurious house in Islamabad. Although he has been “picked up” periodically, he has never been de-commissioned.
posted by India News Watch at 4:17 PM
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