Author: Praveen Swami and Mohammad
Shehzad
Publication: The Hindu
Date: June 13, 2004
URL: http://www.hindu.com/2004/06/13/stories/2004061306050100.htm
Less than three months after The
Hindu broke the news of the detention of a top Lashkar-e-Taiba commander
in Iraq, information is emerging that the Pakistan-based terrorist organisation
may have set up a full-blown unit for suicide squad operations against
Western forces.
Up to 2,000 men, mainly between
the ages of 18 and 25, are believed to have signed up for the Lashkar-e-Taiba's
armed operations in Iraq. Most come from towns in the Pakistani province
of Punjab, where the Lashkar-e-Taiba's overground political patron organisation,
the Jamaat-ud- Dawa, wields considerable influence. Most Lashkar suicide
squad volunteers come from the ranks of seminary students at Muridke, the
Jamaat-ud-Dawa's main centre. However, some have also been raised from
the Binori Town seminary in Karachi, which used to be run by the fundamentalist
cleric, Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai, until he was assassinated.
At a recent meeting, the Lashkar-e-Taiba's
overall head, Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, told followers that "Islam is in grave
danger, and the Mujahideen are fighting to keep its glory. They are fighting
the forces of evil in Iraq in extremely difficult circumstances. We should
send Mujahideen from Pakistan to help them." Dr. Saeed's comments were
made at a private meeting in the Jamia al- Qudsia mosque in Lahore late
last month. Sources close to him told The Hindu that the Lashkar hoped
to be able to send at least some suicide squad members to Iraq overland
through the porous Iran-Pakistan border.
In April, this newspaper reported
that a key Lashkar commander, Danish Ahmad, had been held by allied troops
in Iraq. Mr. Ahmad played a central role in the organisation's operations
in Jammu and Kashmir from at least 1999, operating under the nom de guerre
of Abdul Rehman al- Dakhil. Mr. Ahmad was first held by British forces
in the southern city of Basra, and has since been interrogated by Central
Intelligence Agency personnel. Western intelligence experts initially dismissed
Mr. Ahmad's initiative in Iraq as a one-off enterprise, but the new information
emanating from Pakistan may force a re-think.
Interestingly, Mr. Ahmad may have
trained many of the men now being prepared for combat in Iraq. Islam-ud-Din,
a Lashkar operative arrested in 1999, told Indian intelligence that Mr.
Ahmad had trained hundreds of cadre at the Lashkar's Maskar Abu Bashir
camp in the use of arms and explosives. In 1999, the Karachi-based newspaper,
The Dawn, quoted Lashkar spokesperson Ghulamullah Azad as saying that Mr.
Ahmad had led "dozens of fresh fighters of our outfit [who] have reached
the Kargil sector to continue the jihad."
While the Lashkar-e-Taiba has historically
backed sectarian violence against Pakistan's Shia minority, Dr. Saeed attempted
to break with the past at the recent meeting. "America has failed to divide
Shia and Sunni Muslims despite masterminding sectarian violence in Pakistan,"
he told followers. "America is now bending over backwards to foment a Shia-Sunni
divide in Iraq. But we should not forget that Muqtada al-Sadr is a hero
of Islam. Forget that he is a Shia. He is a great Mujahid because he is
fighting the worst devil on earth, that is, America. It is our religious
duty to support him," Dr. Saeed told the gathering.
Dr. Saeed's tone on events in Iraq
has intrigued observers, given his historically comfortable relationship
with the military and intelligence establishments in Pakistan. "The U.S.
and Britain are raping our mothers and sisters," the Jamaat-ud-Dawa leader
said. "In this situation jihad becomes mandatory against them. The Mujahideen
are our last hope. If they are not supported today, then tomorrow, Islam
will be erased from the map of the world." Referring to possible Pakistani
troop commitments in Iraq, Dr. Saeed said that he would support President
Pervez Musharraf "if he sends troops to Iraq to fight against the U.S.
and Britain. If he sends them to support the U.S., then we will spearhead
a countrywide campaign against him."
Despite its venomous polemic against
General Musharraf, and its presence on a Pakistani Government terrorism
watch-list, the Jamaat-ud-Dawa has enjoyed considerable freedom to raise
funds and recruit cadre in recent months. General Musharraf declared the
Lashkar-e-Taiba a terrorist outfit on January 13, 2002 following the attack
on the Indian Parliament on December 13, 2001. The Jamaat-ud- Dawa, however,
escaped censure by changing its name, which was earlier the Markaz Dawa
wal'Irshad.
If Dr. Saeed's claims to have prepared
two brigade-strength forces for Iraq are true - or even close to the true
scale of recruitment - there could be serious trouble ahead for the beleaguered
Western forces in Iraq. His organisation was among the pioneers in the
use of suicide bombings in Kashmir, which started in 1999. The Lashkar-e-Taiba
claims to have orchestrated around 200 suicide attacks between 1999 and
2002. Although India has been pushing for greater restrictions on the activities
of Jihadi groups, Pakistan has been reluctant to go beyond curbing cross-border
infiltration, for fear of provoking a backlash from the Islamist Right.
