Scotland Yard questions British-Pakistani police officer in hunt for terrorist sleepers

Yard quizzes three Muslim officers in hunt for terrorist sleepers
Michael Gillard
SCOTLAND YARD has placed one of its Muslim officers on restricted duties while it investigates intelligence that he may have attended a terror camp linked to Al-Qaeda in Pakistan.

The policeman — who firmly denies the allegations — is said by police sources to be one of three Muslim officers questioned in a Yard search for terror “sleeper cells” in its ranks.

The move follows disclosures earlier this month that Islamic terrorist sympathisers had attempted to infiltrate the intelligence services by applying for jobs in MI5.

It raises the risk of terrorist “fifth columnists” passing on information about secret operations and compromising the identities of undercover agents.

The Metropolitan police last week said that it would look at individual cases if there were concerns, but added that it was not reassessing the backgrounds of all its 400-500 Muslim staff.

The officer, who is in his mid-twenties, was placed on restricted duties at a London police station earlier this month. Police sources say his security clearance for sensitive databases has been withdrawn pending the results of an internal inquiry.

The inquiry appears to have been triggered by the belated discovery that the officer made a trip to Pakistan before joining the police in 2001. He returned to Britain shortly after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

During an interview with the Yard’s secret vetting unit, which works closely with MI5, it was suggested he may have attended or associated with people at an Al-Qaeda training camp. The British-born officer, whose parents are from Pakistan, denies knowingly meeting terrorists.

He is understood to have told his interviewers that he went abroad to study and this involved briefly attending a madrasah — religious school — as a way of getting into technical college in the UK. He abandoned his studies to join the police in 2003.

Some madrasahs in Pakistan have a reputation for attracting extremists and radicalising young Muslims. Shehzad Tanweer, the London suicide bomber, is said to have visited one in the months before last year’s attacks.

The Association of Muslim Police (AMP) says there are two other investigations in which Muslim officers have been interviewed about trips to Pakistan.

Tahir Butt, secretary of the AMP, has raised the cases with senior management. He said that a policy which targeted Muslims and not other religions would be “wholly inappropriate”.

Pakistan is the world's biggest recipient of Chinese aid

Pakistan is the world's biggest recipient of Chinese aid

By Kaleem Omar

Like star-struck neophytes mesmerised by visions of an imagined El Dorado, some government planners and economic managers in Islamabad tend to look obsessively to the United States for aid, as if Washington were the only source of development assistance in the world.

All the hullabaloo notwithstanding, the fact of the matter is that it is not the United States but China that has emerged as by far the biggest aid donor to Pakistan in the last five years. This is not to say that assistance from the US is not welcome, but only to underline the fact that the aid train doesn't only run from Washington to Islamabad; it runs much more frequently, and much more smoothly, from Beijing to Islamabad.

China's total financial commitments and aid offers to Pakistan since 2001 now total more than $ 9 billion, including about $ 6 billion for a whole clutch of development schemes and an estimated $ 3 billion for defence equipment, making Pakistan the world's biggest recipient of Chinese aid.

What's more, these billions of dollars in aid offers and commitments have all come our way from Beijing in a low-key fashion, without any of the sort of hoopla and media hype that usually accompanies offers of US assistance. As a true friend of Pakistan, China doesn't trumpet its aid; it just goes ahead and offers it.

Moreover, unlike the United States and several other western countries, China has never gone back on its aid commitments to Pakistan, even when it has been under pressure from Washington to do so.

The defence component of Chinese aid since 2001 includes 80 F-7 jet fighter aircrafts delivered to Pakistan in two batches of 40 each, in December 2001 and December 2002, and four frigates for the navy (one to be built in China and three at the Karachi Naval Dockyard under a technology transfer agreement).

The economic component includes an offer of $ 1.5 billion for doubling the capacity of the state-owned Pakistan Steel Mills to three million tons a year (though it is not clear what the status of this offer will be if PSM is privatised, as the government says it still plans to do); $ 200 million for Phase I of the Gwadar deepwater port (which is nearly ready; an agreement in principle to provide $ 500 million worth of funding for Gwadar's second phase (on which work is due to begin early next year); $ 350 million for the further development and expansion of the Saindak copper and gold project; an offer of $ 950 million for building a 450 MW hydel power project on the Jhelum-Neelam; $ 500 million for building a second 350 MW nuclear power plant at Chashma for the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (on which work is now well underway); $ 396 million for three hydropower projects in northern Punjab and NWFP; and $ 600 million for small hydropower projects at Pakpattan and Machai, a grid station at Muzaffargarh-Kati and a transmission line.

In addition to these projects, China has also pledged assistance for a white oil pipeline from Karachi to Punjab. China is also supplying 500 airconditioned buses to Pakistan to improve public transport services in Karachi. The first batch of 100 buses is already on the road. China has now offered to supply a fleet of buses for Lahore and other cities.

Projects involving another $ 3 billion worth of funding are in various stages of negotiation with China. These include the long-delayed revival of the Karachi Circular Railway, the Thar coal mining project in Sindh, the Dudar zinc mining project in Balochistan, and the setting up of a telecommunications university and an information technology park.

More than a dozen Chinese companies have started making direct investments in Pakistan. About 50 Chinese companies are engaged in contracted or joint venture projects in Pakistan, while nearly a hundred companies have business links with Pakistani companies in various commercial fields.

China has repeatedly offered to promote the setting up of joint ventures in Pakistan between Chinese companies and Pakistani entrepreneurs in the value-added textile sector. A minister heading a delegation of Chinese textile manufacturers said on a visit to Pakistan last year that China did not want to compete with Pakistan in textile exports because Pakistan was its friend.

Pakistani businessmen have been invited to attend the Urumqi fair, which is rated the biggest trade fair in western China. The annual fair is part of a new development plan designed to promote China's opening to its West Asian neighbours.

The significance of this move has to be viewed in the context of the fact that Beijing has announced a $ 500 billion plan for boosting western China's economy, with half the money allocated for infrastructure projects and half for bank loans to local entrepreneurs to set up industries and commercial enterprises.

The new deep water port at Gwadar is expected to play a key role as a gateway port for western China and as an energy corridor aimed at trans-shipping Chinese oil imports from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries to energy-deficient western China.

The Pakistan government has also announced plans to build a highway link and a Rs 50 billion railway line from Gwadar to western China, in order to provide a land route for western China's imports and exports. The new highway will link up with the Karakoram Highway connecting Pakistan to Kashgar in western China. The scheme also calls for the widening and upgrading of the KKH to make it an all-weather road capable of handling heavy truck traffic. China recently offered $ 350 million in aid for the project, including financing for the realignment of a 100-km section of the KKH that will be submerged by the Bhasha Dam reservoir. Work on the dam began last month, following a ground-breaking ceremony performed by President Pervez Musharraf in May this year.

China's growing interest in the development of Gwadar port was underscored in 2003 when Beijing held joint naval exercises with Pakistan in the Arabian Sea for the first time ever. Maintaining security in the region's sea lanes has become of vital concern to China in recent years because of its increasing dependence on Middle Eastern oil. A Chinese naval presence in the Arabian Sea will also help to strengthen Pakistan's maritime security.

China has also offered Pakistan a special low-cost desalination package to tackle water shortages caused by periodic dry spells in the region. The offer, which was sent to Pakistan through its embassy in Beijing, incorporates low-cost desalination technology developed by China's Tianjin Institute of Seawater Desalination. "This technology can bring about a revolution in overcoming the water shortage problem in Pakistan," said Runo Guo, a senior official at the Tianjin Institute.

He said that sea water could be used as a more sustainable resource to overcome water shortages on a long-term basis. Referring to the cost of the desalination technology developed by China, he said, "It is very cheap and reasonable compared to other technologies."

However, a Pakistani-owned company based in California, which is building a 25 million-gallons-a-day desalination plant for the Karachi Port Trust, says that the technology developed by it is even cheaper than the Chinese technology in per-gallon-cost terms.

Jihad integral part of curriculum, says Javed Ashraf

Jihad integral part of curriculum, says Javed Ashraf

* Education minister unveils highlights of Islamiat curricula
* Says revised national curriculum to be implemented from next year

By Irfan Ghauri

ISLAMABAD: Jihad is not being deleted from the new curriculum because it is an integral part of Islamic teachings and Muslim beliefs, said Education Minister Lt Gen (r) Javed Ashraf Qazi on Monday.

“Jihad has many dimensions which also includes self-negation (Jihad bin nafas). We will teach students the full concept of Jihad,” Qazi said during a briefing on the draft of the new curricula for classes 1 to XII. He said that Sura Al Anfal and other suras over which certain western countries had reservations with regard to their Jihad teachings, were still part of the Islamiat curriculum.

He said the new curricula will be implemented in junior classes from the start of the academic year in 2007 and will be introduced in all classes up to grade XII by 2009. The draft curricula has been sent to the provinces for recommendations and will be finalised after their proposals are considered, he added.

Qazi said the revised Islamiyat curriculum has been divided into five topics: Al Quran Al Kareem (Quranic teachings), Imaniyat aur Ibadaat (Haqooq Allah) (Rights of God), Seerat e Tayyaba (Life of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), Akhlaq aw Adaab (etiquette) (Haqooqul Ibad) and prominent personalities of Islam. He said that Nazara Quran would start in grade-III, leading up to completion of the Holy Quran by the end of grade-VIII. The students will also memorise 19 small suras by the end of class-VIII. The suras include Sura Ikhlas, Sura Nasar, Sura Fathihah and Sura Falaq. He added that students would also memorise with simple translation 27 Quranic supplications recited during prayers.

The education minister said that students of grades IX and X would be taught 20 selected ayaats from Sura Baqara, Al Nisa, Al Madina, Al Tauba and Al Haj with translation and interpretation. He added that in grades XI and XII the students would be taught the entire Sura Al Anfal and 39 selected ayaats from Sura Baqua with translation and simple interpretation. He said that simple translation of 18 Hadith for grades IX and X and 12 for grades XI and XII had been incorporated in the curricula.

Qazi said that monotheism, prophethood, faith in angels and the revealed books had been included in the topic of Imaniyat aur Ibadaat (faith and worship). He said that the basic pillars of Islam – belief in one God, prayer, fasting, pilgrimage and Zakat — are also covered in this topic and added that the chapters also contained an introduction to Jihad, its importance and forms in the light of the Holy Quran and Sunnah. He said that the topic on the life of Prophet Muhammad would also highlight battles led by the Holy Prophet (PBUH) to show his exemplary leadership and tolerance towards his enemies..

In the topic of prominent personalities of Islam, he said that the profiles of 28 personalities would be covered from grades III to XII.

Qazi said that Pakistan studies would be compulsory in grades IX and X while advanced Pakistan studies will be available as an elective subject in grades XI and XII. The course for Pakistan studies for grade IX and X will be derived from the revised history curriculum for grades VI and VIII. He said that the courses had been designed to make the students understand the objectives of the creation of Pakistan and also its ideology, history, culture, geography and economics. He said the course covered major historical, political and constitutional developments in Pakistan and the salient features of various regimes.

Qazi said the geographical component of the curriculum aims to enhance the understanding of the physical features and human resources of the country. It will also promote an understanding of the major environmental hazards and conservation strategies for water, land, vegetation and wildlife, he added. The minister said a chapter has been added on “Pakistan in world affairs” in the course to familiarise students with Pakistan’s international relations and the latest developments in world affairs with particular reference to neighbouring countries, the Muslim world, major world powers and the United Nations. Qazi said that changes have been made in natural science curricula to make them relevant to modern day developments.

Lashkar-e-Toiba's role in global Islamic terrorism

Pakistani player steps up jihad

Militant group has been linked to arrests in Canada, U.K., U.S.

Stewart Bell

National Post

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Recent anti-terrorism arrests in Canada, Britain, Australia and the United States involve an array of allegations, but all have one thing in common: Lashkar-e-Tayyiba.

The Pakistani militant group may not have the name recognition of al-Qaeda, but it has emerged since 9/11 as a significant player in the global jihad, with a growing presence in Western Muslim communities. Some believe Lashkar has assumed a role that al-Qaeda had fulfilled before losing much of its leadership and its sanctuary in Afghanistan: training radicalized foreign Muslims at remote paramilitary camps.

Just as the terrorists captured before and immediately after 9/11 had almost all passed through Osama bin Laden's boot camps in Afghanistan, today suspects targeted by Western intelligence agencies are increasingly graduates of Lashkar camps in Pakistan.

From the Virginia Jihad Network in the United States to an Australian cell broken up by police and arrests last month in the United Kingdom, a common denominator has been Lashkar-e-Tayyiba. A number of suspects associated with the alleged Toronto cell are also thought to have links to prominent members of Lashkar and a few may have travelled to Pakistan for training.

In addition, an al-Qaeda recruiting DVD that witnesses have said was handed out at the Salaheddin Islamic Centre by alleged Toronto terror ringleader Fahim Ahmad makes mention of "our brothers" in Kashmir. Lashkar was also a topic of discussion on Al-Tibyyan, a jihadist Internet forum used by several Canadian suspects.

Postings on the password-protected site refer to Lashkar as "the best group in Kashmir" and note that "to their credit they have helped, at times, the Taliban and al-Qaeda."

Allegations by Crown prosecutors that some of the accused Toronto terrorists had used pictures of Hindu gods for target practice at their training camp in Washago, Ont., is also viewed by some as a sign of possible Lashkar involvement.

Lashkar is one of the main armed groups fighting what they consider a jihad in Kashmir, the disputed mountain region where Pakistani Muslims have long been at war against predominantly Hindu India.

The LeT is "the best organized and the best led of the Pakistani mujahedin organizations, but over the years the Lashkar-e-Tayyiba has invited a number of foreign nationals to train with this group, so it has developed a global reach as a result of that," said terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna.

"We have seen that since 9/11, of the Pakistani groups, this particular organization has had its members arrested in Australia, in the UK, in France and in the United States.

"So it is one of the local jihad groups that had developed in a very short period of time after 9/11 a very global outreach and a very global capability," said Dr. Gunaratna, head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

The LeT was formed as the armed wing of Markaz Da'wa wal-Irshad, an Islamic centre established in the 1980s by, among others, Abdullah Azzam, who was also a co-founder of al-Qaeda.

During the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan, Lashkar shared training camps with al-Qaeda, and according to Canada, bin Laden was one of the LeT's chief financial backers.

While its main focus is Kashmir, Lashkar also sent fighters to Bosnia in the 1990s to participate in the Balkans civil war and has played an active role in Afghanistan in co-operation with the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

When the Pakistani government banned Lashkar, it folded but resurfaced the next day as Jamaat-ud-Dawa. It also operates an alleged charitable front group called Idara Khidmat-e-Khalq.

Despite the ban imposed by Islamabad, Lashkar continues to operate in Pakistan, some believe with the tacit support of rogue elements in the military who approve of its guerrilla campaign in Kashmir.

"The government is kind of turning a blind eye to some of their activities and their leader is quite influential," Dr. Gunaratna said.

With the Taliban gone from power and Afghanistan no longer hospitable terrain for foreign militants, Lashkar has opened its camps in Pakistan to fleeing al-Qaeda members, the Pakistani diaspora and Muslims in general.

There are "a number of training camps" now in Pakistan as well as in Pakistani-controlled sectors of Kashmir, one near the city of Mansehra, Dr. Gunaratna said. "There were Britishers, Europeans and Americans and Canadians who went and trained."

Graduates of these camps have returned home to the West to serve either as support cells that provide money and recruits for the Lashkar cause, or to plot terror attacks, he said.

One of the most significant Lashkar cells was led by Frenchman Willie Brigitte. Arrested in 2003 in Australia, he was returned to Paris under police escort and placed under arrest.

"It is clear that Brigitte traveled to Australia intending to do us harm," the Australian Security Intelligence Organization said in its annual report. Two of his associates were late arrested in Australia, Izhar ul Haque and Faheem Khald Lodhi.

The plot to attack targets in Australia was linked to Lashkar-e-Tayyiba through Brigitte and Lodhi, both of whom had allegedly trained at a Lashkar camp. Lodhi was accused of recruiting ul Haque into the LeT. Lodhi was recently convicted of plotting attacks in Australia.

One possible link between Lashkar and Western terror conspiracies is believed to be a British man known as "Abu Omar," who visited Canada last year and knows some of the Toronto suspects.

He was arrested last month at Manchester Airport after returning to Britain from Pakistan and has since been charged with several terrorism offences including conspiracy to murder. He is believed to have played a role in facilitating training for Western Muslims at Lashkar camps.

According to the FBI, discussions about training in Pakistan at "terrorist-sponsored camps" took place in Canada in March 2005 when two Atlanta men, Ehsanul Islam Sadequee and Syed Haris Ahmed, traveled to Toronto to meet with local extremists.

Mr. Ahmed later flew to Pakistan in an attempt to train at a camp, the FBI says. Jahmaal James of Toronto also went to Pakistan to marry. Their visits took place during the same period that Abu Omar would have been in Pakistan.

The Canadian investigation is just one of several internationally in which links to Pakistan have been discovered, going back to the arrest of Momin Khawaja of Ottawa in 2004.

"Currently, much of the research focus is on South Asia, and in particular Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Kashmir region between India and Pakistan," said Tom Quiggin, a former RCMP terrorism expert.

"The American led attack on Afghanistan in October 2001 compounded the problem, as many of the escapees fled to other areas in Pakistan and the Kashmir," said the researcher at the Centre of Excellence for National Security in Singapore.