Warning: Undefined array key "rbname" in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 14
Hello !
Recent Appearances... Rantburg

Africa North
LNA seizes Sidra and Ras Lanuf in lightning attack
2016-09-12
In a lighting strike this morning, the Libyan National Army (LNA) has taken control of the neighbouring Sidra and Ras Lanuf oil terminal towns from the central region Petroleum Facilities Guards (PFG) headed by Ibrahim Jedhran. LNA forces also took the south and east gates at Ajdabiya. In Zuweitina, however, where the PFG has been in control of the oil terminal, there was still fighting between the two sides, Colonel Ahmed Al-Mismari, the LNA spokesman, said this morning.

“We got to Sidra and Ras Lanuf without almost any resistance”, he told the Libya Herald, although one member of the PFG had been killed and an empty oil tank had been set on fire by them. There had been no LNA casualties. They fled, leaving all their weapons, he added. These included three tanks, two armoured vehicles as well as other vehicles, mortars and Kalashnikovs.

However, while PFG spokesman Ali Al-Hassi admitted that there had been clashes this morning, he has denied that the LNA had taken Sidra and Ras Lanuf.

The appropriately named Operation Al-Barq Al-Khatif (“Sudden Lightning”) was launched at 5 am this morning, Mismari explained, and had been planned well in advance. “We worked on it. It was not a sudden move,” he said. The operation had consisted of four separate advances, he explained, all of them under the direct control of General Khalifa Hafter. He would not give numbers involved but said that the attacking forces had been “very large”.

He added that air strikes west of Ajdabiya were still taking place, and that the road between Ajdabiya and Benghazi would remain closed until further notice.

The head of Magharba tribe in Ajdabiya, Salah Al-Atewish, has meanwhile called on all members to support the LNA.

Ras Lanuf and Sidra include not only the terminals but also a 220,000-b/d refinery, a petrochemical complex, a military and a civil airport and oil company buildings but are also home to some 25,000 people.

In a separate development, Mismari also divulged that there has been further fighting in Benghazi’s Ganfuda district today, including a number of air strikes.
Link


Africa North
Female lawmaker assassinated in Libya
2014-07-19
A Libyan security official said a female lawmaker in the outgoing parliament has been killed in a restive eastern city known as a stronghold of extremists. The official said unknown assailants sprayed bullets at Fareha Al Barqawi near a gas station in the eastern city of Darna.

Al Barqawi was a member of a liberal-leaning political bloc in Libya’s outgoing parliament. Her husband was a longtime political prisoner under deposed dictator Moammar Gaddhafi.

The official didn’t provide further details and spoke on condition of anonymity for fear for his own safety.
Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israel 'holding suspected Qaeda activist since 2010'
2013-11-19
[Pak Daily Times] Israel has secretly locked away
Into the paddy wagon wit' yez!
a suspected al Qaeda biological weapons expert for more than three years, court documents disclosed on Monday, after the man appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court to free him.

Samer al Baraq studied microbiology in Pakistain, underwent military training in Afghanistan and was recruited in 2001 to al Qaeda by Ayman al-Zawahri, who is the group's leader today, Israeli prosecutors said in documents seen by Rooters. They said he was planning attacks against Israelis. But Al Baraq, 39, has not been charged and has been held since 2010 in administrative detention, a policy by which Israel jails suspected hard boyz without trial, based on evidence presented in a closed military court.

Israel says the practice pre-empts bad boy attacks against it while keeping its counter-intelligence sources and tactics secret. In October, Al Baraq appealed to Israel's Supreme Court to end his military detention. Asked if his client denied the allegations.
No, no! Certainly not!
against him, al Baraq's lawyer, Mahmid Saleh, told Army Radio: "If he is such a senior terrorist, then why hasn't he been prosecuted? There is no evidence against him." According to a court document al Baraq was once detained and questioned in the United States and was later tossed in the calaboose
Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages!
in Jordan for five years. He was tossed in the calaboose
Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages!
in 2010 when trying to enter Israel from neighbouring Jordan.

In its response to al Baraq's appeal, Israel's prosecution said letting the detainee go would endanger the entire region. The Supreme Court was due to hold a hearing in the case later on Monday. According to court documents seen by AFP, the Israeli security establishment told the high court ahead of a Monday hearing it believed that Samer Al-Barq is "an activist in the global terror group al Qaeda, with extensive knowledge in non-conventional arms, especially biological weapons". His petition to be released from administrative detention should be rejected by the court, since he would significantly boost the development of "global jihad" infrastructure in the region if freed, the documents said.

Under what Israel calls "administrative detention", suspects can be imprisoned without trial by order of a military court. Such orders can be renewed indefinitely for up to six months at a time. "We petitioned the court because in three days the Israeli authorities will be renewing his administrative detention order," Barq's attorney Mahmid Saleh told AFP ahead of Monday's hearing. Mahameed said his client's family originated in the northern West Bank village of Jayyus, while Barq himself was born in Kuwait 39 years ago, and studied microbiology in Pakistain in 1997.

According to the court documents, Barq received military training in Afghanistan in 1998, and in 2001 was recruited by al Qaeda and acquired "knowledge and experience" in non-conventional weaponry. Barq was involved in planning attacks on Israeli and Jewish tourists in Jordan during 2001, and agreed to train Paleostinians to manufacture poison to use against Israelis, the document said.
Link


India-Pakistan
United Jihad Council disappears
2008-12-13
ISLAMABAD: A coalition of five major Jihadi organisations, led by the once fiery militant commander Syed Salahuddin, has simply disappeared. It has temporarily dissolved itself, closed its offices, removed all signs and asked its leaders to stay quiet.

The strategy follows the current Pakistan-India tension following the Mumbai blasts and the ban imposed by the UN on several such organisations in Pakistan. The United Jihad Council (UJC) is a major Kashmiri group comprising Harkat-ul-Ansar, Hizbul Mujahideen, Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen, Al-Jihad, Al-Barq, Ikhwan-ul-Mussalmin andTehrik-ul-Mujahideen. By early 1999, as many as 15 organisations were affiliated with the council, though only five of these were considered influential.

"Following the Mumbai attacks and the subsequent tension between Pakistan and India, the United Jihad Council has decided to remain silent," said a commander of one of the UJC member organisations, requesting anonymity.

He said the incumbent Pakistani rulers were pursuing the same policy adopted by Pervez Musharraf and the statements on Kashmir issued so far by President Asif Zardari had made it clear that the present Pakistan government would extend no support to the Kashmiri freedom fighters.

"In the current situation, the UJC is maintaining complete silence and has no contact with any Pakistani organisation or institution," the UJC commander said. "The outfits banned in Pakistan, including the Lashkar-e-Taiba, have never worked with the UJC nor maintained with it any direct or indirect contact," he added while claiming that that they were fighting for the liberation of occupied Jammu and Kashmir and their struggle would continue.

Since the government launched a crackdown against Jamaat-ul-Dawah and started sealing its offices across Pakistan and Azad Kashmir, all the central leaders of the UJC have been maintaining a low profile and have removed signboards from temporary sub-offices of the organisations in various districts of Azad Kashmir.

When The News contacted Foreign Office spokesman Muhammad Sadiq, he said there was no change in Pakistan's Kashmir policy. He said Pakistan supported the just struggle of Kashmiris for their right to self-determination but no authority in Pakistan had any links with militant or political organisations operating in occupied Kashmir.

The UJC was formed in the summer of 1994 by amalgamation of several armed resistance organisations. It is currently headed by Syed Salahuddin, the leader of Hizbul Mujahideen, the largest group operating in the occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

This organisation was created to unify and focus efforts of various armed resistance groups fighting the Indian rule in Kashmir. This made distribution of resources like arms, ammunition, propaganda materials and communication more streamlined. It also made it easier to coordinate and pool resources of various Jihadi groups to collect information, plan operations and strike at targets of military importance in the Indian occupied Kashmir.
Link


India-Pakistan
UJC flays Pak silence on recent Kashmir situation
2008-07-07
TARIQ NAQASH

Muzaffarabad, July 5: An alliance of militant groups on Saturday poured out anger at the governments, leaders, general public and media in Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir for their "silence on recent happenings in Jammu and Kashmir" and gave an implied message that the struggling Kashmiris could rethink their ideology regarding Pakistan.

"The Pakistani government and leaders are trying to compromise a short-cut with India on Kashmir...We condemn and reject their changed approach," declared Syed Salahuddin, chairman of United Jihad Council (UJC), at a press conference here.

Flanked by top office-bearers of over a dozen UJC constituents, he regretted that while the Kashmiris were hoisting Green flags in Srinagar amid shouts of 'Pakistan zindabad' during protest demonstrations against land transfer to Shrine Board, Pakistan and AJK governments behaved like silent spectators.

"We condemn the criminal silence of conscienceless and ignominious Pakistani rulers... They could not speak two words of sympathy for the innocent Kashmiris," a visibly angry UJC chief said.

The unprecedented wave of demonstrations in Kashmir, he said, had made it quite clear that a nation, unready to surrender even 100 acres of land, could never cede entire state to India.

"Over the past six decades Kashmir has rarely witnessed such a massive demonstrations and this should be an eye opener for those coming up with assorted proposals on the issue," he said.

When asked if the Kashmiris would still stick to their ideology of Himalayan region's accession to Pakistan, he didn't mince words to warn that the views could change on the other side.

"It's a reciprocal process. If you send a message that you cannot support the struggle the Kashmiris are not crazy to stay loyal to this ideology," he said.

Salahuddin said the Kashmiris had pinned all of their hopes on Pakistan after the Almighty, but efforts were being made to dash those expectations.

While censuring AJK premier Sardar Attique Khan for suggesting conversion of Line of Control into "line of commerce," the UJC chief also blasted "Pakistan's uncrowned ruler Asif Ali Zardari for crossing the limits."

"Zardari does not even know the alphabets of Kashmir issue...He is speaking for someone else," he alleged as he referred to PPP co-chairman's statements on the longstanding issue.

"The statements emanating from Islamabad and Muzaffarabad are rubbing salt into the wounds of suffering Kashmiris...They are aimed at axing the historic relationship between Pakistan and Kashmiris under a well-thought out conspiracy," Salahuddin said.

He said it appeared that the present ruling clique was also bent upon pursuing the "beaten track policy of Pervez Musharraf which had caused irreparable loss to our movement."

The UJC chief made it clear that the Kashmiris had not rendered sacrifices for trade or internal autonomy but for right to self determination.

"On behalf of bleeding Kashmiris, I declare that even if each and every citizen of Pakistan and AJK turns his back on us, the freedom movement will continue till success," he vowed.

In response to question, Salahuddin said the AJK rulers had no right to jaunt around the globe at taxpayers' money in the name of projecting Kashmir issue.

"They are merely using this issue for grabbing power...They have not even addressed the concerns of a handful of Kashmiri refugees," he said.

He also warned the Indian government against fuelling communal riots in Jammu region and said its repercussions would be dangerous.

He agreed that Pakistan based leaders of APHC factions should have organised some rally on land transfer issue, regardless of resources or manpower.

"I have heard now they plan to stage a sit-in outside Indian High Commission. But I agree they could not do it at the appropriate time."

Salahuddin welcomed the reunification efforts between Hurriyat factions and vowed that mujahideen were ready to offer their last drop of blood in struggle alongside "sincere and unified leadership."

He also rejected the forthcoming elections in Jammu and Kashmir and asked the pro-freedom leadership to launch a vigorous campaign to warn people against the repercussions sham process.

The leaders accompanying Salahuddin included Shaikh Jamilur Rehman (Tehrikul Mujahideen), 'General' Abdullah (Jamiatul Mujahideen), Masood Sarfraz (Hizb-e-Islami), Muhammad Iftikhar (Lashkar-e-Taiba), Muhammad Usman (Muslim Janbaz Force), Attiqur Rehman (Harkatul Mujahideen), Mufti Asghar (Jaish-e-Muhammad), Munir Ahmed Mahmood (Harkatul Jihad-e-Islami 313 Brigade), Jan Muhammad (Harkatul Jihad-e-Islami Jammu Kashmir), Khaki Nasrullah (Al-Fatah Force), Mushtaqul Islam (Al-Barq), Wasim Baig (Tehreek-e-Jihad) and Zahid Bakhtiyar (Islamic Front).

Link


India-Pakistan
Guns will roar till tripartite talks: UJC
2008-04-22
Leaders of United Jihad Council (UJC), an alliance of fighter groups battling Indian rule in Kashmir, on Monday publicly criticised President Pervez Musharraf’s policies on the disputed region and vowed, after virtual lull for quite some time, that Jihad being an obligation would be carried on until the end of Indian subjugation.
Sounds like they've bought the new government...
Speaking at what was named as “Azm-e-Jihad Conference” under the aegis of a Kashmiri refugees’ organisation “Pasban-e-Hurriyat” the militant and political leaders also flayed the Muzaffarabad government for according “red carpet reception to the killers of the Kashmiri people.” The function, attended by over 1,000 people, was held under a large canopy on the lush green lawns of a hotel along the left bank of icy Neelum River.
Sounds pretty plush. Heading a Pak terrorist organization seems to be a pretty lucrative line of work.
A number of banners, displayed on the occasion, also reaffirmed the “Kashmiris’ resolve to continue their struggle till complete eviction of Indian troops from Kashmir.”
Got some relative who own print shops, do they?
The programme and the body language of speakers was unusual particularly when judged in the backdrop of the bearing of Pakistan based Kashmiri militant and political leaders after 9/11 when a crackdown on extremist elements was launched by President Musharraf “under external pressure.” Analysts are of the view that the change of guards in Islamabad has encouraged the Kashmiri leaders to come out, all of a sudden, with renewed calls for a forceful jihad.
The Sharif bloc has been on the jihadis side the while. Maybe PPP would have brought them under control with Benazir running things, but Mr Ten Percent probably went cheap.
UJC chairman Syed Salahuddin angrily dismissed reports of any softening on the armed struggle while interacting with reports later in a brief question answer session. “I have never been inactive. Not for a fraction of a second over the past seven years. This is a wrong perception,” he said in response to a question.

Earlier, speaking at the conference Salahuddin said the fighters wanted to give a clear message to the people at the helm of affairs as well as political and religious leadership in Pakistan, and at the same time to the Indian rulers, that until every single inch of Kashmir was freed from New Delhi’s slavery, the struggle would continue with full force. “People who taunt us as gun-frenzy must not forget that we launched a peaceful political struggle for emancipation for 42 long years but its absolute failure compelled us to take up arms,” he said.

The UJC chief reiterated that the mujahideen were ready to lay down weapons provided India accepted their conditions, such as acknowledging the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir as a disputed territory and its settlement through meaningful tripartite talks.

He regretted that after 9/11 Musharraf regime offered too many concessions to India, including the fencing of Line of Control, which caused great disappointment among the Kashmiris. “In 2000 and 2001 our struggle had reached a decisive phase, but unfortunately Musharraf took on the pressure against the Islamic movements beyond the pale and consequently the political and diplomatic support to our movement declined considerably,” he said. He disclosed that Kashmir had never been a “core issue” in any round of talks between India and Pakistan during Musharraf government.

On the peace process, he said Kashmiris were a peace loving nation but could not promote peace process at the cost of their martyrs. Salahuddin made it clear that the Kashmiris would not accept any formula except complete liberation of their motherland. “Division, status-quo, internal autonomy or cross border trade, all are unacceptable,” he declared, adding, the militants were not opposed to trans-LoC travelling but they would not allow anyone to use it to dilute the freedom movement.

Salahuddin also dispelled the impression as “enemy’s propaganda” that the mujahideen had got tired. “Who says we are tired? We cannot betray the blood of 500,000 martyrs. As the number of martyrs is rising, Jihad has become an obligation of everyone,” he said.
Cheese. Just a year ago they couldn't betray the blood of 90,000 martyrs.
Salahuddin also called upon the PaK government “to stop paying lip service to the movement,” and play its role in it on solid basis.” “The government in this part of Kashmir should reserve 75 percent of its budget for (freedom) movement and train its youths on war footing to liberate their enslaved brethren across the divide.” The UJC chief asked Islamabad to hold Kashmir centric and targeted talks with India.

Referring to Mr Ten Percent Asif Ali Zardari without naming him, he said unfortunately some imprudent politicians were suggesting that Kashmir issue should be left for next generations. “This movement cannot be postponed even for a single day, not to talk of next generations,” he said.

Referring to militant leadership’s participation in talks, he said: “We are not opposed to talks but the process should be in line with the aspirations of the Kashmiris. Whether we participate or not is insignificant. What is important is that when, where and on what issue the talks are held. If held on our conditions, we will appreciate and endorse the talks.”

Prior to Salahuddin, a number of other militant and political leaders also spoke. Tehreek-e-Kashmir convenor Ghulam Mohammad Safi blasted the PaK government, asking it to give up the practice of toeing the line of Pakistani rulers. “You should develop courage to call a spade a spade. And you should also refrain from according red carpet reception to the so-called leaders whose hands are stained with the blood of Kashmiris, whether it is Omar Abdullah or Mehbooba Mufti,” he said.

His views were later echoed by APHC convenor Syed Yousaf Nasim who said Pakistani and Kashmiri leaders may receive Indians but not those who were responsible for the massacre of Kashmiris. “Red carpet reception to such leaders is tantamount to rubbing salt into the wounds of oppressed Kashmiris,” he said.

Almost all speakers criticized the previous Pakistani government’s policies on Kashmir, with some saying that Islamabad was trapped by New Delhi into weakening the Kashmir freedom struggle. Zaki ur Rehman Lakhvi, amir of proscribed Lashkar-e-Taiba, was also among the speakers but he focused his speech on some instances from the Islamic history to establish a point that freedom movements could take longer than expected time and Kashmiris should not get disappointed from 19 years of struggle.

Prominent among other speakers were Sheikh Jamilur Rehman of Tehrikul Mujahideen, General Abdullah of Jamiatul Mujahideen, Attiqur Rehman of Harkatul Mujahideen, Farooq Qureshi of Al Barq Mujahideen, Mastoid Sarfraz of Hizb-e-Islami, Uzair Ghizali of Pasban-e-Hurriyat, Raja Izhar Khan, Yousaf Butt and Amjad Khan advocate.


Link


India-Pakistan
Hizbul Mujahideen suffered most among rebel outfits in Kashmir in 2007
2007-12-26
(KUNA) -- Police in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir Tuesday said Pakistan-based outfit Hizbul-Mujahideen (HM) was the worst sufferer among the insurgent groups in Kashmir in 2007 with the killing of 34 top commanders and 307 cadres in encounters.
Hizbul Mujahideen received a severe setback in 2007 having lost 34 top commanders and 307 cadres in the encounters with Indian security forces.
HM received a severe setback in 2007 having lost 34 top commanders and 307 cadres in the encounters with Indian security forces, a top police officer of Jammu and Kashmir told reporters today, news agency Press Trust of India reported. "Insurgency in Kashmir is on the decline and HM cadres have gone underground," he said.

Other insurgent groups whose "commanders" were killed in 2007 included Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), Al-Badr, Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami (HuJI), Tahreek-ul-Mujahideen (TuM), Al-Umar, Jamail-ul-Mujahideen (JuM), JK Freedom Force (JKFF), Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM), Hizb-e-Islami (HeI) and Al-Barq. As many as 77 top commanders have been killed by security forces till November 2007, which includes 17 commanders of LeT, 13 of JeM, 10 of HuJI and three of Al-Badr. "This year HM lost one operation chief commander, four divisional commanders, seven district commanders, nine tehsil commanders, 12 area commanders and company commander," the officer said.

Among the insurgent leaders killed in 2007 include Bilal Afghani, chief commander of Al-Badr on December 3 in Budgham followed by Qari Umar (deputy chief of HuJI for Jammu and Kashmir), Abu Hamza (chief operation commander of JuM), Qasim Bhatti (chief operation commander of LeT), Iajaz Ahmed Chopan (chief operation commander of HM), Aby Tallah (operation commander of LeT's Jammu region), Mohammad Younis (commander-in-chief, HMPPR) and Mohd Khalid-ur-Rehman (LeT's India operations head), the officer said.

During the past two years, 182 rebel commanders were killed in Jammu and Kashmir and of these 75 commanders were of HM, 49 of LeT, 18 of JeM, 11 of Al-Badr and 20 of HuJI, the officer said. In 2006, out of 105 commanders killed, HM lost 41, LeT 32, HuJI 10, JeM five and Al-Badr four. In 2005, HM lost 31 top commanders, followed by 12 of LeT, nine of Al-Badr, seven of JeM, two commanders each of HuM and HuJI, besides one each of TuM, JuM, HeI and Al-Barq, the officer informed. In 2004, HM had lost three chief operation commanders -- Gazi Shahab-uddin, Gazi Naseer-uddin, Saif-ul-Islam, besides deputy chiefs -- Abbas Malik and Shakeel Ansari, the news agency said.
Link


India-Pakistan
Key Kashmir militant killed
2007-09-25
Indian troops shot dead a top Muslim militant in Kashmir on Monday, police said. Abu Haider Ali, operational commander of the Al Barq militant group, died in a gunfight late Sunday near the northern town of Sopore, Deputy Inspector General of police B Srinivas said. “Haider is a big catch for the police as the alleged militant commander was among the most wanted in northern Kashmir,” he said.
Link


Iraq-Jordan
Maqdisi re-arrested
2005-07-06
In Jordan police arrested al-Zarqawi's spiritual mentor Tuesday as he was being interviewed on Al-Jazeera television, his first public appearance since his release from prison last week.
"We interrupt this program for breaking news! Tonight's special guest is being dragged off by angry policemen. Mahmoud, over to you!"
Al-Jazeera said Isam al-Barqawi, also known as Sheik Abu-Mohammed al-Maqdisi, was detained during the interview with its correspondent in Jordan, but gave no details.
"Folks, you might not want to watch this... Oooh! That hadda hurt!"
Al-Barqawi is said to have taught al-Zarqawi radical Islamic ideology while they shared a cellblock for four years between 1995 and 1999. Both were freed in an amnesty, and al-Zarqawi later went to Afghanistan, then to Iraq, where his followers have waged a campaign of car bombings, attacks and kidnappings.
Those amnesty things work well, don't they?
Al-Barqawi was put on trial again last year among a group of militants accused of conspiring to commit terror attacks against U.S. targets in Jordan. He was acquitted but not released until last week. From his cell in Jordan al-Barqawi wrote to al-Zarqawi in a message posted on the Internet in October asking al-Zarqawi to "spare the blood of fighters and Muslim money" until the time was more appropriate to wage an all-out war.
Link


Iraq-Jordan
Jordan Upholds Convictions of 8 Militants
2005-07-04
A military court on Sunday upheld the conviction of eight Jordanian militants for possessing explosives, and government officials said a man considered the spiritual mentor of terror mastermind Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi was freed earlier in the week.

The eight were among 11 militants charged with possessing explosives and conspiring to commit terrorist acts against the U.S. Embassy in Amman and Jordanian military bases near the eastern Iraqi border. The 11 men, including three Saudis tried in absentia, were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 7 1/2 to 15 years for possessing explosives in a trial that ended Dec. 27, 2004. They were acquitted of the conspiracy charge for lack of evidence. On Sunday, the military judges upheld the verdicts against the Jordanians. "This court insists on its previous ruling," said Col. Fawaz Buqour as the eight defendants shouted from the dock the Islamic battle cry of "Allahu fubar akbar," or Holy Shit God is great. Defense lawyer Hamad Emoush said he will appeal.

In a related development, a man considered the mentor of al-Zarqawi, the chief of al-Qaida in Iraq, was freed from jail on Tuesday, government officials said Sunday, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. Isam al-Barqawi had been acquitted by the same court that sentenced the 11 militants in December, but he remained in jail without explanation. The government officials who announced al-Barqawi's release declined to provide other details on the militant who shared al-Zarqawi's jail block for four years, between March 1995 and 1999. Both men were then freed under a general amnesty issued by Jordan's King Abdullah II.
That worked well, didn't it?
Al-Barqawi, also known as Abu-Mohammed al-Maqdisi, was later detained for another case, while al-Zarqawi left Jordan, the officials said. Al-Barqawi lead prayers and issued directives to al-Zarqawi when both were in jail, said ex-con Yousef al-Rababaa, who was imprisoned with both men for three years in a separate matter. From his cell in Jordan al-Barqawi wrote to al-Zarqawi last October asking al-Qaida's point man in Iraq to "spare the blood of fighters and Muslim money" until a more appropriate time to wage an all-out war. Al-Barqawi's message was posted on the Internet. Al-Rababaa and another prisoner familiar with al-Barqawi's writing style said the text could be attributed to him.
Link


Afghanistan/South Asia
The Jihad Lives On — Part 2
2005-03-09
Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM)
Acting under the establishment dictum, one of the most dangerous jehadi organizations operating from Pakistan and active in J&K, the JeM, restyled itself as the Khudamul Islam, claiming it is devoted to preaching Islam and social work. The Jaish chief, Maulana Masood Azhar, who had to be released by the Indian Government in December 1999 after an Indian airplane was hijacked, is one of India's 20 most-wanted men. However, Maulana Masood Azhar had to face the wrath of the Pakistani intelligence establishment after his group was found involved in the December 2003 suicide attacks against General Musharraf in Rawalpindi. Investigations into these attacks later cleared Masood Azhar's name after it transpired that one of the two suicide bombers - Mohammad Jameel - actually belonged to the Jaish's dissident group - Jamaatul Furqaan, led by Maulana Abdul Jabbar alias Maulana Umer Farooq. Much before the suicide attacks, Masood had informed the ISI high-ups in writing that Jabbar and 11 of his associates had revolted against him and he was no more responsible for their actions.

Despite its renaming, the US State Department designated the Jaish a foreign terrorist organization in December 2001, compelling Musharraf to ban the group in January 2002. Masood Azhar got his outfit registered under the new name of Khudamul Islam within no time. The Jaish chief was kept under house arrest for a few months after the 9/11 terror attacks, but was subsequently set free. Though Masood Azhar, while conceding to the ISI's pressure, had directed his henchmen not to target the American interests in Pakistan, there are strong fears in the Pakistani intelligence circles that the dissident members of the Jaish, who are unknown and have gone underground, constitute the real threat.

The murmurs of dissent in the outfit first surfaced when Masood Azhar failed to react to General Musharraf's policy change on Afghanistan after the 9/11 terror attacks. Several prominent Jaish members favoured retaliatory attacks against US interests in Pakistan to pressurize the military ruler against supporting the Bush administration. But acting under the agencies' command, Masood refused to acquiesce. As things stand, there are fears that ongoing disputes over possession of the various Jaish offices, mosques and other material assets could lead to more serious clashes between the two banned factions.
The main cause behind the fighting is the embezzlement of fundsby Azhar and his family members, his lucrative profession is the main reason he has been so loyal to the establishment.

Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM)
Led by Rawalpindi-based Yousaf Shah alias Syed Salahuddin, HM is the outfit to watch in the coming months. Of all the militant groups operating in J&K, the HM is the largest, with a 20,000-strong cadre base drawn from both indigenous and foreign sources. The Hizb happens to be one of the most lethal jehadi groups, and controls about 60 per cent of militants operating in J&K. With India and Pakistan finally agreeing to allow travel across the Line of Control (LoC) by bus between Srinagar-Muzaffarabad, the Pakistani establishment has asked HM Chief Salahuddin to halt, for the time being, all militant operations against the Indian security forces in J&K. However, the United Jehad Council (UJC), an alliance of 13 Kashmiri jehadi organizations led by Salahuddin, has been restructured and three Pakistan-based jehadi groups, the LeT, JeM and Al-Badar Mujahideen have been brought into the UJC. This new adjustment is called Muwakhaat ('agreement on the basis of brotherhood') that is aimed at putting an end to the internal differences among the jehadi groups waging the Kashmir jehad.
There have been numerous clashes between the Pakistani Jihadis and the ethnic Kashmiri Jihadis, as well as fighting between the Salafis and the others

According to the intelligence sources, reorganizing the command and control structure of the HM-led UJC was part of a strategy change to enable Pakistani intelligence to have tighter control over its running. With the restructuring of the UJC, they said, no component member of the UJC would be allowed to launch an attack in J&K, unless approved by the Council. That is why most of the smaller groups, which had been irritants for the ISI, have been merged to reduce the number of their representation in the Jehad Council from thirteen to five. Al-Barq, Tehreek-e-Jehad, Islamic Front, Brigade 313 and the Kashmiri component of HuM have been merged to form the Kashmir Freedom Force, which would be led by Farooq Qureshi of Al Barq. The Muslim Janbaz Force, Al Jehad Force, Al Fateh Force, Hizbullah and Jamiatul Mujahideen (JuM) have also been merged to form the Kashmir Resistance Force, which would be led by Ghulam Rasool Shah. Similarly, many of the militant training camps have been moved from Azad Kashmir to Pakistan in Punjab and the Frontier provinces, with strict restrictions on the movement of militants. The training camps have reportedly been relocated at Taxila, Haripur, Boi, Garhi Habibullah and Tarbela Gazi.
The reorganisation actually took place a while ago

Harkatul Mujahideen (HuM)
Led by Maulana Fazalur Rehman Khalil till recently, the HuM has regrouped and is working in a low-key manner under the name of the Jamiatul Ansar, but insisting that it has a non-militant agenda. As the Government's anti-extremism drive brought into sharp focus Maulana Khalil's alleged al-Qaeda links, he had to resign from the top slot of the organization in January 2005, as advised by his spy masters. Khalil, who was released in December 2004 after an eight-month detention in a seven by seven foot cell, submitted his resignation at a January 2005 meeting of the 'executive committee' of the HuM and asked the committee members to elect Maulana Badar Munir from Karachi as the new chief. Intelligence sources, however, insist that Khalil remains in the good books of the establishment and would continue calling the shots from behind the scene, despite his resignation as the Harkat chief, which was nothing more than an eye wash.

HuM's association with Osama bin Laden was established on August 20, 1998, when US planes bombed the al-Qaeda training camps near Khost and Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan in retaliation to US Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. The US bombs destroyed two HuM training camps and killed 21 of its activists. As of today, the US intelligence agencies believe the Harkat still retains links, like most other jehadi groups, with the Taliban remnants and al-Qaeda operatives hiding on the Pak-Afghan border.

Despite enthusiastic applause from the West for anti-militancy efforts of Pakistan's 'visionary' military ruler, it is evident that much remains to be done on the ground before these efforts will actually bear fruit. With changing scenarios all over the world, there has been a change of minds, yet what is required is a change of hearts.
Link


Afghanistan/South Asia
11 jihadi groups banned from making public statements
2004-11-10
"You kidz are just gonna hafta seethe in private, y'hear? And don't make us come in there!"
The government has banned 11 jihadi groups that were active in Kashmir from holding public gatherings and issuing public statements, Daily Times learnt on Thursday. The government has directed the Muttahida Mahaaz Council (MMC), an alliance of the 11 groups, not to attend or hold public gatherings, meetings, rallies or congregations.
I wonder if that's the new name of the Muttahida Jihad Council?
They have also been restrained from issuing statements on the Kashmir issue. A source said that the government took exception to certain "lunatic irresponsible statements" made by the leaders of the jihadi groups that had embarrassed it internationally. The MMC consists of Hizbul Mujahideen, Hizbullah, Jamiatul Mujahideen, Muslim Janbaz Force, Hizbul Momenin, Al Fatah, Al Umer, Tehreekul Mujahiden, Tehreekul Jihad, Al Jihad and Al Barq. Three other jihadi groups active in Kashmir — the Jamaatud Dawa, Jaish-e-Muhammad and Al Badar - have not joined the MMC. After the government's orders, the MMC adopted a resolution that no jihadi group would hold gatherings. Because of the resolution adopted by the MCC, the chief of Hizbul Mujahiden, Syed Salahuddin, did not attend the Jamaat-e-Islami annual congregation at Azakhel Park, Nowshshra, in the first week of October, the source said. Another source said that the intelligence agencies had been monitoring the activities of Syed Salahuddin, Javed of Hizbullah, Abdullah of Jamiatul Mujahideen, Muhammad Usman of Muslim Janbaz Force, Usman Rizvi of Hizbul Momenin, Mumtaz of Al Fatah, Mushtaq Zarger of Al Umer, Jamilur Rahman of Tehreekul Mujahideen and Muhammad Tariq of Tehreekul Jihad.
Link



Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-12 More