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India-Pakistan

Banned outfit's activists held

2014-12-06

LAHORE: An intelligence agency with the help of the city police raided a property in Main Market, Gulberg, and two other places in the provincial capital on Friday and picked up a dozen people said to be members of a banned outfit. A police source told Dawn the suspects, including two ‘commanders’, belonged to banned Hizbut Tehrir. Their laptops, mobile phones, organisation specific literature and sensitive material were also seized during evening raids. He said the suspects, who were picked up from a rented property in Main Market, Bund Road and Lorry Adda, had been brought to the Ghalib Market police station for further action. The official said police would interrogate the suspects to probe whether they were working only for their organization or they also carried out some activities for Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (also named as Daesh). Meanwhile, the suspects along with seized literature were produced before the media at the police station. Police will produce them in court on Saturday (today) to obtain their remand.

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India-Pakistan

Members of banned group arrested

2013-02-19

[Dawn] Five members of Hizbut Tehrir were tossed in the slammer Please don't kill me! in Sadiqabad on Saturday night, charged with distributing literature that contained anti-military and anti-state material. The city police chief, Azhar Hameed Khokhar, told Dawn that the men were prominent members of Hizbut Tehrir, an organization banned by the government. "They were already on our wanted list, since they've been involved in such incidents in the past. Fresh charges are being filed in this arrest," he said. "These arrests are not related to the New Katarian incident," Khokar added, referring to a recent police encounter there. The five men were identified as Saad Jugranvi, Khalid Qadeer Butt, Qadir Ali, Muhammad Junaid and Muhammad Asif.

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India-Pakistan

Three more religious groups banned

2012-03-12

[Dawn] The government banned on Saturday another three religious/charity organizations working in the country. According to a bigwig of the interior ministry, with the latest ban imposed on Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ), Al Harmain Foundation (AHF) and Rabita Trust (RT), I believe al-Harumain and Rabita Trust were banned under Perv in 2002 or thereabouts and removed after their protestations of innocence around 2006. The dates are just off the top of my head, so could be wrong. the number of outlawed organizations and groups has risen to 38. The three organizations were outlawed by the United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... in 2009 under a resolution adopted by the Security Council. ... and three years later Pakistain gets around to putting them on the list of banned organizations, a process that still has nothing to do with putting them out of business... The ASWJ, known previously as the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain ...a Sunni Deobandi organization, a formerly registered Pak political party, established in the early 1980s in Jhang by Maulana Haq Nawaz Jhangvi. Its stated goal is to oppose Shia influence in Pakistain. They're not too big on Brelvis, either. Or Christians. Or anybody else who's not them. The organization was banned in 2002 as a terrorist organization, but somehow it keeps ticking along, piling up the corpse counts... (SSP), is taking part in activities of a recently-formed group of religious organizations, Difa-e-Pakistain Council. ...and no suggestion of "banning" the Difa-e-Pakistain Council... The council recently attracted large crowds at some of its public meetings in different cities where it lambasted both Islamabad and Washington. The council may strongly react to the government's decision to ban one of its important members. ... probably by blowing something up or killing somebody or both... The AHF is a Soddy Arabia-based organization and also working in Pakistain. The official said the interior ministry had sent letters to the four provincial home secretaries, informing them about the ban on the three organizations. According to the BBC, ASWJ chief Maulana Ahmed Ludhyanvi expressed ignorance about any such ban. "No, no! Certainly not!" However, Caliphornia hasn't yet slid into the ocean, no matter how hard it's tried... he said if it was true he would opt for a legal fight. "We are a peaceful organization," he was quoted as saying. "If anyone places a ban on us...they are trying to place a ban on Pakistain." A document, which the BBC describes as a notification issued by the interior ministry that was not publicly announced, claimed that the ASWJ was suspected to be involved in acts of terrorism in the country and, therefore, it was being added to the first schedule of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997. The organizations previously banned by the government are: Lashkar-e-Jhangvi ... a 'more violent' offshoot of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain. LeJ's purpose in life is to murder anyone who's not of utmost religious purity, starting with Shiites but including Brelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Rosicrucians, and just about anyone else you can think of. They are currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of al-Qaeda ... , Sipah-e-Muhammad Pakistain (banned on Aug 14, 2001), Jaish-e-Muhammad, Lashkar-e-Taiba ...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI... , Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain, Tehrik-e-Jaafria Pakistain, Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi, Tehrik-e-Islami (on Jan 14, 2002), Al Qaeda (on March 17, 2003), Millat-e-Islamia Pakistain, Khuddam-ul-Islam, Islami Tehrik Pakistain (on Nov 15, 2003), Jamaat-ul-Ansar, Jamaat-ul-Furqan, Hizbut Tehrir (on Nov 20, 2003), Khair-un-Naas International Trust (on Oct 27, 2004), Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... Liberation Army (on April 7, 2006), Islamic Students Movement of Pakistain (on Aug 21, 2006), Lashkar-e-Islam, Ansar-ul-Islam, Haji Namdar Group (on June 30, 2008), Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (on Aug 25, 2008), Jamatud Daawa, Al-Akhtar Trust and Al-Rashid Trust (banned under the UNSC resolution 1267 on Dec 10, 2008), Shia Talba Action Committee, Markaz-e-Sabeel (Gilgit), Tanzeem Naujawan-e-Sunnat (Gilgit), People's Aman Committee, Balochistan Republican Army, Balochistan Liberation Front, Lashkar-e-Balochistan, Balochistan Liberation United Front and Balochistan Musallah Difa Tanzeem (banned in 2011). The fact that there are this many extremist organizations -- merely the ones that urgently need banning, not all of them -- is simply breath-taking. And for some reason the Paks see the problem as some sort of "hidden hand."

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India-Pakistan

Karachi's new terrorist groups

2012-01-08

Law enforcement agencies have found several small previously-unknown beturbanned goon organizations operating in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... , during recent crackdowns. Most of them are linked to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistain. "Militants linked with the TTP are increasingly moving to Bloody Karachi because of military operations and US drone strikes in the tribal areas," said Chaudry Aslam, head of the Anti-Extremism Cell (AEC) at CID Bloody Karachi. They get logistics and manpower support from the beturbanned goon organizations already established in the city. Such groups include the Punjabi Taliban, the Al Mukhtar group, Kharooj, Al Furqan, Badar Mansoor Group and Jundullah - all discovered within the past year. Many of these groups are facing severe shortages of funds after the government's moves to cut off their foreign sources of funding, according to Aslam, and that is why there has been a surge in bank robberies and abductions for ransom. At least 18 banks were robbed in 2011, with a total of more than Rs60 million stolen, according to news reports "All such little-known beturbanned goon outfits are linked with the TTP," Aslam told TFT. "It is TTP's strategy to operate in Bloody Karachi in smaller cells to dodge law enforcement agencies for longer. The cells are so small and so scattered, they are only discovered when law enforcement agencies arrest their members." Experts working on militancy related issues believe that Taliban splinter groups typically arise in two ways. "Some leaders abandon their groups to form their own outfits and develop direct links with the TTP and Al Qaeda," said Muhammad Amir Rana, director of the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS). "In other cases, new and very small operational cells are set up to carry out activities in a specific geographical location." The CID discovered the Al Mukhtar group in an April 26 raid by arresting a suspected key leader allegedly involved in a bomb blast in an illegal gambling den in Ghas Mandi area on April 21. The attack killed 22 people and injured dozen others. Recently, the CID has claimed to have arrested the group's Karachi head Asghar alias Umer, along with five other alleged militants. "Al Mukhtar group is basically a splinter cell of TTP's Badar Mansoor group deployed especially to Karachi," Aslam said. "Its main function is to collect extortion money, and carry out bank heists, abductions for ransom and terrorist attacks." Punjabi Taliban, another little-known militant outfit, mainly consists of students of Karachi's academic institutions, especially Karachi University (KU). The group was discovered after a bomb blast in KU on December 28, 2010 that injured four students of Shia group Imamia Students Organisation. Three Punjabi Taliban militants including its Karachi head Qari Shahid were killed on December 5 when police raided a house during the successful rescue of kidnapped local industrialist Riaz Chinoy. The CID arrested two members of the group on December 13 and recovered a hitlist with the names of more than 100 public figures. The militants were demanding Rs70 million in ransom, but came down to Rs20 million after negotiations, according to media reports. Qari Shahid's wife Sabiha Karim, an active member of the group, was also placed in durance vile. She confessed her group was involved in four major attacks in Bloody Karachi> - the May 22 attack on the PNS Mehran, the November 11, 2010 CID attack, the December 2010 kaboom at KU, and the February 2011 Chehlum blast," said a senior Police official. Punjabi Taliban was formed in 2007 by former operatives of Islami Jamaat Talaba (IJT), a sister organization of Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... (JI), after a disagreement with the JI leadership over 'Jihad', said a KU professor who is monitoring their activities on the campus. He said the men were inspired by Dr Akmal Waheed and Dr Arshad Waheed, and were resultantly expelled from the IJT. Qari Shahid had a Masters degree in Political Science from KU and was affiliated with IJT when he was a student. TTP-linked jihadi outfits and the banned Hizbut Tehrir are very active in Bloody Karachi's academic institutions. They try to attract IJT members with Jihadi literature and using other means, a former IJT activist in KU told TFT. He said there was no information about the size of the Punjabi Taliban, many of their members - including Zohair Imtiaz Kudwai, Omair Imtiaz Kudwai, Azib Imtiaz Kudwai, Misbah Usmani, Mohammad Shabbir and Imran Nazeer - were killed in drone attacks in the tribal areas. "Their alleged objectives include fighting against Pakistain's security forces and supporting the outlawed TTP." Chaudhry Aslam said the Punjabi Taliban group was also involved recruiting young boys for training of suicide kaboom in Wazoo. On June 26, the CID placed in durance vile Abdul Razzaq alias Omar and Rashid Iqbal alias Basit, two members of Punjabi Taliban assigned that task. They sent six teenage boys to Waziristan in 2009. Four of them were killed in a drone attack on the training camp, and the other two were sent back to Bloody Karachi. They were also placed in durance vile. Kharooj, another previously unknown group operating in Bloody Karachi, has also been recruiting young people, especially students, a CID officer told TFT, asking not to be identified. The group's leaders are hardcore faceless myrmidons who had separated from the TTP after disagreements with its leadership. Many of these groups are facing severe shortages of funds after the government's moves to cut off their foreign sources of funding, according to Aslam, and that is why there has been a surge in bank robberies and abductions for ransom. At least 18 banks were robbed in 2011, with a total of more than Rs60 million stolen, according to news reports. A TTP leader from the Mehsud area of South Waziristan said faceless myrmidons from tribal areas usually head to Bloody Karachi to seek shelter, for rest and recuperation, for medical treatment, and to receive funding. Although backed by the TTP with money and manpower, these groups are made up of 'locals', he said. A majority of them Urdu and Punjabi speaking youth formerly associated with the IJT or various Jihadi groups. Security experts believe smaller groups have better chances of survival as crackdowns by law enforcement agencies increase. Chaudhry Aslam claims he has broken their network by arresting their key leaders.

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India-Pakistan

Four army majors questioned over links to Hizbut Tehrir

2011-06-23

[Dawn] Four army majors are being questioned in Pakistain in connection with a brigadier who was jugged over links to the banned Hizbut Tehrir group, an army front man said on Wednesday. Military front man Major General Athar Abbas ... who is The Very Model of a Modern Major General... told Rooters the men had been questioned but had not been jugged. "They are being questioned in relation to the brigadier case," he said. The arrest of the brigadier -- the highest-ranking officer held in a decade -- has raised fears about the growth in the military of the group which sees Pakistain as a powerful base for the establishment of an Islamic Caliphate.

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India-Pakistan

Ban on 25 groups imposed: interior minister

2009-08-06

At least 25 extremist and militant groups and welfare organisations affiliated to them have so far been banned because of their involvement in terrorist activities. In a written reply submitted on Wednesday in response to a question in the National Assembly, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said that the banned organisations included Al Qaeda, Sipah-i-Muhammad, Tehrik Nifaz-i-Fiqah Jafaria, Sipah-i-Sahaba, Jamatud Dawa, Al Akhtar Trust, Al Rasheed Trust, Tehrik-i-Islami, Jaish-i-Muhammad, Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, Islamic Students Movement, Khairun Nisa International Trust, Tehrik-i-Islam Pakistan, Tehrik Nifaz-i-Shariat Muhammadi, Lashkar-i-Taiba, Lashkar-i-Islam, Balochistan Liberation Army, Jamiat-i-Ansar, Jamiatul Furqan, Hizbut Tehrir, Khuddam-i-Islam and Millat-i-Islamia Pakistan. Mr Malik said Jamaatud Dawa, Al Akhtar Trust, and Al Rasheed Trust were banned on Dec 10, 2008, after they were named in the United Nations Security Council Resolution No 1267 and the Sunni Tehrik was placed on the 'watch list'. He said law-enforcement agencies were closely monitoring their activities and stern action was being taken against people taking part in objectionable activities. He said various steps, including strengthening of intelligence networks, extensive police patrolling and regular raids on criminals' hideouts, were being taken to curb sectarian terrorism during Muharram. Occasional ban on pillion riding, picketing and regular snap-checking was also being carried out to improve the law and order situation. He said all banned organisations were being watched and people suspected of making hate speeches were also under continuous surveillance. He said the government of Punjab had issued a 'red book' for arresting most-wanted sectarian terrorists.

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India-Pakistan

Nine 'terrorists' seized from Blue Area hotel

2009-07-19

Kohsar police Saturday night arrested nine 'terrorists' from a Blue Area hotel. According to a police official, all nine arrested terrorists belonged to the banned religious outfit Hizbut Tehrir>Hizbut Tehrir. "They were dining in '4-Seasons' -- a Blue Area restaurant -- when police arrested them. They have been shifted to Kohsar Police Station where investigation is underway," the official said.

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India-Pakistan

Six Hizbut Tehrir men arrested in Karachi

2008-02-18

Brigade police arrested six members of Hizbut Tehrir, a defunct religious organisation, while they were pasting posters near Shahra-e-Qaideen on Sunday, reported Geo News. According to the channel, the police arrested Ghulam Ali, Rizwan Ali, Abdul Samad, Talha, Shirafat Ali and Muhammad Sajid, and recovered a large number of posters from their possession. According to the police, the posters read: “Change cannot come with the present democracy and the enforcement of Caliphate is essential for bringing about a change”. Police are conducting raids to arrest their associates.

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Europe

Hizbut Tehrir behind french intifada

2005-11-19

Dalil Boubakeur, head of the Paris mosque, big shot of the CFCM french muslim council and mouthpiece for the algerian secret services (who write his sermons) sez that the riots were "organized"; apparently there was at least a modicum of organization, firebombs factories have been found, kids were sent to frontlines by adults (minors are effectively immune form any legal consequencies). Still, according to the police, the bulk of the rioters were black muslim africans (at least in Seine Saint-Denis, which is more african than arab?), while the heavily "politically islamized" areas didn't move, so that somehow lessen the djihadist perspective. by B.Raman, CAMP EUROPE All indicators point to the involvement of some Pakistani, Algerian and Moroccan members of the London-based Hizbut Tehrir (HT) in the violence by sections of angry Muslim youth, which has rocked the suburbs of Paris and some other towns of France since October 27,2005. 2. The outbreak initially was spontaneous following the electrocution of two Muslim youth as they were fleeing away from a random identity papers check by the Police. The violence continued to be spontaneous, with no external instigation, for three days. In the meanwhile, it is reported by reliable sources, the headquarters of the HT in London saw the agitprop potential of the developments in Paris and sent some of their experts, who had participated in instigating the violence earlier this year in Afghanistan over the alleged desecration of the Holy Koran by the US guards at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre in Cuba and in Uzbekistan over the allegedly autocratic ways of the local Government, to Paris to stoke the anger of the youth and exploit it for their purpose. 3. With the help of the sleeper cells, which the HT has already established in Paris and other parts of France for some months, they drew up plans for keeping the violence sustained in order to further radicalise and mobilise the youth against the French Government. For this purpose, they exploited the already prevalent anger in the Muslim community of France over the ban on the wearing of head scarves by Muslim girls in public schools and over the ruthless action taken by the Police in the past against suspected radicals. The intemperate and insensitive language used by the French Interior Minister, which is perceived as an insult to Islam and the Muslim youth, facilitated the task of the HT. 4. The HT has the same objective as Al Qaeda, namely, the restoration of an Islamic Caliphate, but denies any link with Al Qaeda and claims that it intends achieving its objective through overt political agitation and not through resort to terrorism or other forms of political violence . While there is no evidence of its involvement so far in any act of jihadi terrorism anywhere in the world, it has been involved in many instances of political agitation in the streets in some countries and in attempts at subverting the armed forces and the intelligence agencies in Pakistan and other Islamic countries. 5. It is reported by reliable sources in Pakistan that the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET) in Pakistan has instructed its cells in France to assist the HT clandestinely as best as they can. Similarly, the Jamat-ul-Furqa (JUF), which has some followers in the community of Caribbean origin in France, has also asked its followers to assist the HT. Richard Reid, the so-called shoe bomber, was suspected to be a member of the JUF.

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Afghanistan/South Asia

Jihadis running for local elections

2005-08-12

The much-publicised Election Commission’s directions to all district returning officers (DROs) to exclude members of 18 outlawed jihadi organisations from the local bodies elections have proved to be a damp squib as DROs feel that many jihadis have slipped the net and are running for seats in the local councils. In Pakland, if you don't agree with a law you just ignore it, unless it's a blasphemy law. The DROs said that they only received the directions and the list of the suspect candidates well after the scrutiny process was over. “There was little we could do (to stop members of banned organisations). They only needed to submit an affidavit to be eligible for the elections,” said a returning officer. "Nope. Sorry. Couldn't do it in time," he said, adjusting his turban... Judging by the number of complaints the DROs have received in this regard, there is great fear that dozens of candidates associated with outlaw jihadi organisation might have slipped the net and are running for local council seats. "Aaaar! Vote fer me an' I'll kill the infidels! Don't vote fer me an' I'll kill youse!" On July 19, Election Commission of Pakistan, through a confidential letter, directed all DROs that members of 18 outlawed organisations were not eligible to run for any local government seat and should be disqualified. The list was reportedly attached with the letter. The list of banned organisations provided by the Election Commission of Pakistan included Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, Sipah Muhammad Pakistan, Jaish-i-Muhammad, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Sipah Sahaba Pakistan, Tehrik-e-Jafria Pakistan, Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Sharia Muhammadi, Tehrik-e-Islami (ex TJP), Millat-e-Islamia (ex SSP), Khuddamul Islam (ex JM), Islami Tehrik Pakistan, Jamiatul Ansar, Jamiatul Furqan, Hizbut Tehrir, Khairun Nissa International Trust, Sunni Tehrik and Jamaat ud Dawa. Apart from sending the directive to DROs, the Election Commission also launched a media campaign to inform the public that the organisations mentioned above were banned from taking part in the local council elections.

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Afghanistan/South Asia

Hezbut Tahrir spearheading Afghan protests?

2005-05-16

HT seems to have had a lot more success in non-Arab countries like Central Asia, Indonesia and Europe than they have in Arab countries. I can see that the could appeal to Islamist minded students who would otherwise be turned off by the Talibans primitivism. EFL 
in protest against the alleged desecration of the Holy Koran by the US guards at the Guantanamo Bay camp in Cuba, where about 500 Afghans, Pakistanis and other Muslims have been detained by the US authorities without any trial and without giving them any right of access to human rights organisations. The demonstrations, often culminating in violence, which started at Jalalabad near the Pakistan border, have since spread to the northern provinces of Parwan, Kapisa and Takhar, Laghman in the east, Logar and Khost in the southeast and the southern province of Kandahar. It also spread to Kabul itself on May 12,2005. According to latest reports, ten out of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan have been affected by the demonstrations and the resulting violence. The anger of the demonstrators has been directed not only against the US and President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, but also against Pakistan and the UN and Western non-governmental organisations functioning from Afghanistan. Their offices have been attacked, causing considerable property damage everywhere. Reports of the demonstrations received from several towns indicate the following common features: * The students spearheaded the demonstrations, in which a large number of educated people participated. * The demonstrations were not spontaneous. They had been well prepared, and were well organised and well orchestrated. Groups of students went from town to town instigating the local students to take to the streets. * The demonstrators were not armed and confined their protests to shouting anti-US and anti-Karzai slogans, burning American and Pakistani flags and effigies of Bush, Karzai and Musharraf and attacking properties like buildings and vehicles. * The demonstrations were not instigated by the Taliban or the Hizb-e-Islami of Gulbuddin Heckmatyar or Al Qaeda. However, elements from the Taliban and the Hizb-e-Islami, who were taken by pleasant surprise by the students taking to the streets, subsequently joined them. * Many members of the Police and the newly-raised Afghan Army showed sympathy for the demonstrators and were reluctant to use force against them when ordered to do so by their senior officers. Reports from reliable Afghan sources indicate that the ant-US and anti-Karzai demonstrations have been organised by the Hizbut Tehrir (HT) and not by the Taliban or the Hizb-e-Islami or the Al Qaeda. While one was aware of some HT activities in the student community in Afghanistan, the extent of its penetration not only in the student community, but also in the Afghan security forces has come as a surprise. In their preoccupation with fighting their so-called war against the Al Qaeda, the Taliban and the Hizb-e-Islami, the American intelligence agencies and security forces seem to have remained oblivious of the subterranean activities of the HT and have consequently been taken totally by surprise.

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Afghanistan/South Asia

Hizbut Tahrir making inroads into Pakistan

2005-05-09

The investigations into the two unsuccessful attempts to assassinate Pakistan's President Gen.Pervez Musharraf in December, 2003, brought to light the penetration of jihadi terrorist organisations into the Pakistan Army and Air Force at the junior and middle levels... The leadership role in the planning and execution of this conspiracy was played by the LEJ and Al Qaeda, represented by Abu Faraj al-Libbi, the Libyan, who was arrested by the Pakistani security forces earlier this month
That there are apprehensions in the minds of those close to Musharraf over the role of sections of the intelligence establishment in the entire conspiracy and over the failure of the investigating agencies so far to unravel the entire conspiracy became evident from an interview given by Dr.Aamir Liaqat Hussain, Minister of State for Religious Affairs, to the prestigious "Daily Times" of Lahore, on May 5,2005. An advance summary of the interview was carried by the newspaper on May 6, 2005. This summary has quoted the Minister as warning that Musharraf had a lot of enemies 'within' who could make an attempt on his life again at any time. He said that there were certain elements within the forces who could attack the General. He added: "No common people could attack President Musharraf, but certainly there are elements in the forces who can launch yet another attack against him. There is an ISI within the ISI, which is more powerful than the original and still orchestrating many eventualities in the country." The Minister said he feared a threat to his own life because he supported Musharraf's call for an enlightened and moderate Islam and has been given the task of preparing the texts of sermons advocating enlightened and moderate Islam to be used at all mosques of the Armed Forces. Well-informed sources in Pakistan say that apart from the failure of the intelligence establishment to identify and weed out the pro-jihadi elements in the Armed Forces and the intelligence establishment, another cause for serious concern is the continuing failure of the intelligence establishment to identify all the leaders of the highly secretive Hizbut Tehrir (HT) and its supporters in the Armed Forces and arrest them. This organisation, which has built up a world-wide presence since 1953, made its appearance in Pakistan for the first time in 2000. It had little role to play in the jihad of the 1980s against the Soviet troops in Afghanistan. Like Al Qaeda, it advocates an Islamic Caliphate in which the Sharia will be supreme, but says it wants to achieve it through peaceful mass agitations and not by resort to terrorism or other acts of armed violence. Even though it was born long before Al Qaeda, many believe that the HT now functions as the political wing of the Al Qaeda. What the Al Qaeda seeks to propagate through jihadi terrorism, it propagates through political means. There is nothing secretive about its ideological propaganda in favour of an Islamic Caliphate, which is open. What is highly secretive are details of its leadership, organisational structure, methods of recruitment, membership and sources of finance. What is equally disturbing is that the HT, while advocating open AGITPROP (Agitation-Propaganda) methods for spreading its ideology, lays equal emphasis on the importance of a clandestine penetration of the security forces since, in its view, it would not succeed in establishing an Islamic Caliphate if the Armed Forces remain opposed to it. The HT ideology and operational methods were imported into Pakistan from the UK by its supporters in the Pakistani community in the UK. It is said that within five years it has been able to make considerable progress not only in setting up its organisational infrastructure, but also in recruiting dedicated members in the civil society as well as the Armed Forces. It is said that no other jihadi organisation has been able to attract as many young and educated members and as many supporters in the Armed Forces as the HT despite the fact that it has been present in Pakistan hardly for about five years now... There was no credible evidence of the HT's possible involvement in the anti-Musharraf plots of December, 2003, but its present call for "getting rid of such rulers", which is similar to the call issued in the past by al-Zawahiri, is ominous.

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