Author: Nirupama Subramanian
Publication: The Hindu
Date: May 5, 2011
URL: http://www.hindu.com/2011/05/05/stories/2011050554361300.htm
A Pakistani businessman alleged by the U.S
to have had a direct link with Osama bin Laden, of plotting to acquire chemical
and other weapons for al-Qaeda, and offering his media network for al-Qaeda
propaganda was among the Guantánamo detainees whose repatriation the
Pakistan government actively pushed.
The 64-year-old Saifullah Paracha remains
in the Guantánamo Bay prison, possibly its oldest inmate and among
the last six Pakistani prisoners not yet considered fit for release and repatriation
by U.S. authorities. A U.S Embassy cable from Islamabad, dated August 30,
2006 ( 76668: confidential/noforn) details that a delegation of Pakistani
officials who visited Pakistani detainees at Guantánamo returned with
the impression that most of the detainees "are individuals who were 'in
the wrong place at the wrong time', not extremists who pose a serious threat."
Obtained by The Hindu through WikiLeaks as
part of the Pakistan cables, the diplomatic communication is a small window
into the complicated relations between the U.S and Pakistan in the "war
on terror," and their differences over how to tackle al-Qaeda.
It shows how sections of official Pakistan
differed from the U.S. in their assessment of al-Qaeda suspects. It also shows
the domestic pressures on the Pakistani government as public resentment soared
over the manner in which the U.S. had detained these suspects.
The cable is a report of the Pakistani delegation's
Guantánamo visit, as told to the Political Counsellor at the U.S. Embassy
in Islamabad by Lt. Col. Imran Yaqoob - wrongly mentioned in the cable as
Imran Farooq - Director of Operations at the National Crisis Management Cell
in the Pakistani Ministry of Interior, who was in the delegation.
The cable said, the Pakistani delegation that
visited Guantanamo in early August that year, "left with the impression
that no major obstacles remain to the repatriation of six of the Pakistani
detainees," including Paracha, "provided that the GoP [government
of Pakistan] makes arrangements to keep him in detention here in Pakistan."
The Karachi businessman was arrested in Bangkok
on July 8, 2003, and transferred to the U.S. off-shore prison in Cuba on September
19, 2004.
One of his sons, Uzair Paracha, had been arrested
in the U.S. earlier that year and charged with providing material assistance
to al-Qaeda. He was convicted by a US court in 2006.
The U.S. officials in Guantánamo assured
the delegation that if the Pakistan government submitted a formal request
for repatriation, it would be favourably considered. Lt. Col. Yaqoob told
the U.S. Embassy official that he had already written to the Pakistan Ministry
of Foreign Affairs in support of sending such a request. In addition to the
six detainees at Guantánamo, Pakistan also wanted the repatriation
of 20 more of its nationals being held in Afghanistan.
But Lt. Col. Yaqoob "warned that for
the GOP to keep Saifullah Paracha in custody, it would need information/evidence
from the USG to justify his continued detention, noting that Paracha's family
has a petition protesting his detention pending in the Pakistan Supreme Court.
Without some evidence to support a longer detention, LTC Imran said, Pakistani
law would only permit his detention for three months".
In paranthesis, the cable, sent under the
signature of Charge d'Affaires Peter W. Bodde noted that the Embassy "will
pursue the question of the GoP's ability to hold detainees in custody with
the MFA and other interlocutors."
Quite contrary to the Pakistani official's
impression that Paracha would be released soon, the Guantánamo files,
released last month by WikiLeaks ( ISN 1094), show that he was assessed as
a "high risk" detainee who "if released without rehabilitation,
close supervision, and means to successfully reintegrate into his society
as a law-abiding citizen, […] would probably seek out prior associates
and reengage in extremist activities at home and abroad."
The December 1, 2008 assessment recommended
his "Continued Detention Under DOD [Department of Defense] Control."
According to the file, Paracha was a "significant
member" of al-Qaeda, and provided assistance to the terror network. In
what the file describes as "custodial interviews" rather than interrogations,
Paracha is said to have confessed to meeting Osama bin Laden twice, the first
time in December 1999 or in January 2000, and then again in the autumn of
2000, offering the al-Qaeda leader the use of his television station to promote
his message to the world.
Paracha is alleged to have had close links
with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who confessed to masterminding the 9/11 attacks,
and his nephew, Ammar al Baluchi, another al-Qaeda senior.
His file alleges that bin Laden sent Khalid
Sheikh to find out more about Paracha's media company, Universal Broadcasting
Limited, and how he planned to promote al-Qaeda. Paracha is alleged to have
explained to Sheikh "his vision of dedicating a program on his broadcasting
network depicting OBL quoting Koranic verses."
Over the next several months, Khalid Sheikh
is alleged to have met Paracha five times regarding this proposal. The file
also alleges that Ammar al Baluchi used Paracha's media facilities to make
a film of an al-Qaeda fighter discussing his experience at Tora Boara, which
was passed on to the Al Jazeera news channel.
According to Khalid Sheikh's account to his
interrogators as detailed in the file, Paracha, who is an American citizen
and operated a travel agency in the U.S. before moving back to Pakistan, is
said to have told al Baluchi that he could obtain "unspecified chemicals
from Chinese sources."
Sheikh told his interrogators that "he
assumed [Paracha] was talking about chemical or biological agents that could
be used by extremists as weapons."
Paracha is alleged to have plotted to smuggle
chemical, biological and radioactive materials into the U.S. for attacks.
But he told his captors that his interaction
with al-Qaeda "was just business."
In October 2007, when it became clear that
Paracha was not going to be sent home as earlier expected, Amnesty International
also called for Paracha's release unless he was charged and given a fair trial
in a non-military court.
An American lawyer representing Paracha said
in June 2008 that his client did not deny meeting al-Qaeda figures but did
not know their real identities or that they were connected to terrorism.
Speaking in Karachi, the lawyer, Zachary Katznelson,
said Paracha had met bin Laden in 1999 and 2000 in connection with a television
programme he wanted to make. The al-Qaeda leader had told him he would think
about it but "no interview ever took place."
