Author: Zaffar Abbas
Publication: BBC News
Date: August 31, 2003
URL: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/south_asia/3196769.stm
The military authorities in Pakistan
say they have arrested at least three army officers on suspicion of having
links with Islamic extremists.
The head of the armed forces public-relations
department, Major-General Shaukat Sultan, told the BBC the arrested officers
were being interrogated by the army's intelligence unit.
He refused to give further details.
This is the first known case of
its kind since President Pervez Musharraf ordered a crackdown against Islamic
extremist groups in the country almost two years ago.
The arrests were made public as
the Pakistani military authorities stepped up their operation against the
Taleban in the country's border region.
But it is not clear if the arrested
officers were in any way involved in regrouping the remnants of the Islamic
militia.
One of the arrested army officers
has been identified as Lieutenant-Colonel Khalid Abbassi.
At the time of his arrest, he was
posted in the town of Kohat, close to the border with Afghanistan.
Other arrested officers are in the
junior ranks.
Questioning
Major-General Sultan said the army's
field intelligence unit is interrogating the officers about their possible
links with extremist groups.
He refused to identify the groups
but said action was being taken against the arrested officers under the
army's strict disciplinary rules.
A number of militant groups having
affiliation with the Taleban or involved in sectarian violence were banned
and scores of their members arrested.
It is widely believed that several
officers of the Pakistani army developed sympathy with the Taleban when
Islamabad was officially backing the Islamic militia.
Although Pakistan's official policy
towards the Taleban changed after the events of 11 September 2001, there
was no significant purge within the army.
But following recent concerns expressed
by Washington and Kabul about Taleban remnants trying to regroup in the
Pakistani border region, the authorities have increased vigilance, and
in the last couple of days at least 18 suspected Taleban fighters have
been arrested in the border area.
