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Allama Hassan Turabi	Allama Hassan Turabi	Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal	India-Pakistan				20060716	Link
Hassan Turabi	Hassan Turabi	Supreme Council of Global Jihad	Terror Networks				20030813

Africa Horn

Sudan’s deal with South will not end conflict, says opposition

2012-10-05

KHARTOUM: Sudan and South Sudan will remain locked in conflict despite reaching a border security deal last week, leading Sudanese opposition figure Hassan Turabi said. The two African countries have been wrangling over contested areas along the border and other issues since breaking apart last year under a peace deal that ended decades of civil war. Under pressure from the United Nations and African Union, the two agreed last Thursday to set up a demilitarized border zone and resume oil exports from the landlocked South after Juba shut them down in a row with Khartoum over transit fees. But the deal failed to resolve problems like where to draw the final border, what to do with the disputed Abyei area and how to end rebellions in two Sudanese border states which Khartoum says Juba is backing, Turabi said. “If we conclude a marriage we have to see to it that the bride and the groom trust each other ... There is no trust, and then serious problems are not settled,” he told Reuters. “They wanted to please the world only, because they are under pressure, and they can’t stand the pressure from inside and the pressure from outside.” Turabi, one of Sudan’s most influential politicians throughout the 1990s, dismissed the suggestion the deal was a boost to the government of President Omar Hassan Bashir, which has faced small protests over rising prices. The government scaled back costly fuel subsidies in June to help plug a budget gap left when South Sudan took three-quarters of the country’s oil output at independence, stoking already double-digit inflation. Anti-government demonstrations erupted across Sudan when the spending cuts were announced, but petered out after a security crackdown and the start of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. Turabi said he expected more protests. “It was a good experiment for us ... and the next time we do it, we want it to be continuous,” he said. Turabi was spiritual mentor to the Islamist leaders of the bloodless 1989 coup that brought Bashir to power, but he fell out with the president and has spent more than a decade in opposition. He has been arrested several times. Changing Sudan’s government was the only way to ensure stable, friendly relations between the north and south, he said, adding the two were still culturally intertwined despite a war that killed some 2 million people. “If there is democracy here — and there as well —culturally these two countries will immediately come close. We are closer to one another than the French and the Germans,” Turabi said. Yet he cautioned against moving from Bashir’s government into “chaos,” saying his Popular Congress Party was working with other opposition parties to devise an orderly transition. “It’s easy to destroy a house, it’s very difficult to build a new one,” he said.

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India-Pakistan

The Al Qaeda connection

2012-03-04

Having joined hands with Al Qaeda, sectarian outfits continue to threaten urban Pakistain "My teacher had told me if I kill Shias I will go to heaven," says Mohammad Azam. "Barelvis and Shias are the same. They both need to be killed," adds Jalandar Khan. The two men were jugged before they could launch suicide kabooms. Sectarian differences in Pakistain took a violent turn after the Soviet fall, when men who had been fighting in Afghanistan used their resources and training to carry out attacks on Shias and other minorities in Pakistain. Riaz Basra and his accomplices were accused of targeting key Shia state officials and professionals until 1996. In 1997, the killings became indiscriminate and all Shias became targets. After the strict Salafist Taliban government took over in Afghanistan, violence against Shias and minorities increased significantly. At least 193 people were killed in sectarian violence in Pakistain in 1997, 157 in 1998, and more than 261 in 2001. This happened while many in Pakistain had been praising the Taliban for the peace they had brought in Afghanistan.   The first suicide attack of sectarian nature was carried out in 2003, on a Shia mosque on Pakistain-Afghanistan border. At least 55 people were killed. In mid-2002, Al Qaeda began to cooperate with local sectarian organizations in Bloody Karachi, strengthening their networks and capacity. Among the first attacks carried out by this alliance was an ambush on Bloody Karachi corps commander Gen Ahsan Hayat. Since then, attacks have been carried out on almost all major Sufi shrines, and Barelvi and Shia people have been under constant attack. In 2006, a large number of Barelvi Sunni Tehrik ...formed in Karachi in 1992 under by Muhammad Saleem Qadri. It quickly fell to trading fisticuffs and liquidations with the MQM and the Sipah-e-Sahaba, with at least a half dozen of its major leaders rubbed out. Sunni Tehreek arose to become the primary opposition to the Deobandi Binori Mosque, headed by Nizamuddin Shamzai, who was eventually bumped off by person or persons unknown. ST's current leadership has heavily criticized the Deobandi Jihadi leaders, accusing them of being sponsored by Indian Intelligence agencies as well as involvement in terrorist activities... leaders were killed in a suicide kaboom at a religious gathering in Nishtar Park. Sectarian violence in Bloody Karachi: In mid-2002, Al Qaeda began to cooperate with local sectarian organizations in Bloody Karachi, strengthening their networks and capacity A large number of Shia professionals were shot and killed in Bloody Karachi in the 1990s before attacks became more brutal. The city is one of the most polarized regions in Pakistain. "More than 200 of our workers have been killed in recent attacks," says Sarwat Ejaz Qadri, the chief of Sunni Tehrik. Sunni Tehrik was formed in 1992 to safeguard the interests of Barelvi Mohammedans. It opposed the appointment of rival Deobandis on key state posts. Important Deobandi ideologues it had opposed were from the Binori Town mosque in Bloody Karachi. The founder of the mosque was killed in May 2004 and his son, nephew and driver were maimed, when his car was ambushed by gunnies. The liquidation occurred three weeks after a powerful bomb killed 15 Shia worshippers in Hyderi Mosque. A day after the liquidation, at least 24 worshippers were killed and 34 others injured when a high-intensity bomb went kaboom! during the evening prayers at a Shia mosque on MA Jinnah Road in Bloody Karachi. A top intelligence official said they were seen by security agencies as tit-for-tat attacks. When Intelligence Bureau and CID conducted a raid to arrest a suspect believed to be involved in the Nishtar Park bombing on a house in Baldia locality in Bloody Karachi, the inmates retaliated. The three people eventually locked away - Sultan Omer, Siddique Mehsud and Zubair Bengali - admitted to have been involved in suicide attacks at Nishtar Park and on Allama Hassan Turabi. One of them was a relative of Baitullah Mehsud. The Al Qaeda link: In March 1995, two American consulate officials - Garry C Durrell (CIA) and Jackie Van Landingham (a consulate secretary) were targeted by a local group in an attack sanctioned by Al Qaeda in response to the extradition of Ramzi Yousaf. According to an intelligence source who has been following sectarian outfits for over two decades, it was among the first verifiable indications of sectarian bully boyz tagging with Al Qaeda. "It was Khaled Sheikh Muhammad, the Al Qaeda number three and an anti-Shia Baloch of Iranian origin who supervised the attack." In 2002 when Khaled Sheikh Muhammad came to Bloody Karachi, he was housed by local sectarian groups, says a former intelligence chief who asked not to be named. Some of these groups became the operational arms for Al Qaeda in Pakistain's urban areas. Suspects locked away by security agencies and intelligence reports also show these groups have connections with Al Qaeda. Sectarian faultlines: In South Punjab, Khanewal, Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar, Leiah, Shujabad, and DG Khan have recently become major centers of sectarian outfits. According to a survey, there are more than 798 madarssas in DG Khan and more than 1000 in Bahawalpur. A large number of them are fuelling sectarian discords. In 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... , scores of Hazara people have been killed for their Shia beliefs. The government has failed to respond to the threat so far and key holy mans have not condemned the brutal acts. In Bloody Karachi and Punjab, banned sectarian groups are now operating under new names and leaders once seen as involved in sectarian violence are addressing political gatherings. These developments indicate the sectarian fault lines emerging in urban Pakistain.

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India-Pakistan

Trucking through Pakistan: A dirty business

2011-09-05

Attacks on trucks carrying NATO supplies are not likely to stop soon, but the US is not depending on the Pakistani government The US and NATO depend on Pakistan for logistic support for their war in Afghanistan because most of their supplies goes through Karachi through what many in the port city call the 'Pashtun transport mafia'. The Pakistani security establishment understands that 'alternative routes' might be impossible for speedy supplies, and that is why Islamabad often blackmails the US using sabotage tactics. It was on information revealed by Rahimullah, a terrorist in police custody for orchestrating the Nishtar Park Bombing, that the Intelligence Bureau, the CID and police conducted a raid on a house in Baldia. Terrorists inside the house fired at the police, and the police retaliated. According to the police, all the three men arrested - Sultan Omer, Siddique Mehsud and Zubair Bengali - were suicide bombers from the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. Sultan was the brother of Sultan Saifullah (suicide bomber of the Nishtar Park bombing), Siddique was a relative of Baitullah Mehsud, while Zubair was the relative of Abdul Karim Bengali, the suicide bomber who had killed Allama Hassan Turabi. In that house, Rahimullah was hiding Shukat Awan - one of the largest NATO oil contractors for whom the group had demanded $25 million as ransom. Shukat Awan was killed during the operation. Rahimullah also disclosed that the group had all been trained in suicide bombing in Waziristan, and had been in Karachi for several months. They were being handled by Qari Zafar. The group had been funded by Abid Mehsud, a commander of the Baitullah Mehsud group, to buy arms, explosives and vehicles. One of the suicide bombers was linked with the assassinated Mufti Amin of Jamia Binoria, who according to a police source "had dodgy connections". Shaukat Awan was not the NATO supplier to have died. Muhammad Farooq (38), Mushtaq Mesud (42) and three other NATO suppliers have also been targeted and killed in Karachi alone. "Over the years Karachi has become one of the most important cities of the world not because of its ethnic tensions but because of its strategic location and the port which receives more than 80 percent of NATO supplies," a senior foreign diplomat said. NATO supplies arrive at Karachi's Port Qasim (Although Tehrik-e-Insaf leader Imran Khan staged a demonstration to block NATO supplies near the Native Jetty bridge instead). Americans have built one of the largest consulates in the world in Karachi and have repeatedly used British diplomats to pressure MQM - one of the largest stakeholders in Karachi - to maintain peace in the city. According to one source, the ANP has huge stakes in NATO supplies and has strong influence among Karachi's transporters. "Gawadar is an alternate port, but it is not operational yet for the NATO to use it," said Brigadier (r) Shaukat Qadir. He said Pakistan received payments for NATO supplies and it was therefore important for Pakistan to ensure the supplies are not disrupted. Asked who is behind attacks on trucks carrying NATO supplies, he said, "My guess would be TTP and its affiliates. The Punjabi Taliban." In Karachi, there are many third-tier sub-contractors working for NATO, most of them of Pashtun and Mehsud origin. They get contracts from second-tier sub-contractors from Dubai, who the contracts have been outsourced to from contractors in Washington, DC. One such sub-contractor, Abdul Hakim Mehsud said, "Its one of the toughest jobs in the world - recently over 13 of my trucks and three of my drivers had been vanished in interior Sindh. But the profit margins are high and that keeps me motivated." In Karachi, there are many third-tier sub-contractors working for NATO, most of them of Pashtun and Mehsud origin. They get contracts from second-tier sub-contractors from Dubai, who the contracts have been outsourced to from contractors in Washington, DC. One such sub-contractor, Abdul Hakim Mehsud said, "Its one of the toughest jobs in the world - recently over 13 of my trucks and three of my drivers had been vanished in interior Sindh. But the profit margins are high and that keeps me motivated." While there are no statistics available on how many trucks had been torched by militants so far, according to one NATO contractor the number in Pakistan alone is in hundreds. Most of the attacks occur in Khyber Pakhtunkwa and interior Sindh. "In December 2008, militants destroyed 400 containers carrying food, fuel, and military vehicles," a NATO source said. After that, NATO and ISAF began paying tribes to ensure supplies get across safe. Karachi's ethnic riots, political instability, and sectarianism have earned it the reputation of being the world's most dangerous city. In the last four years, over 5,000 people have been killed in politically-motivated violence. Not very long ago, it hosted Al Qaeda's operational headquarters. It is still considered by many as a Taliban stronghold. In Karachi's chemical markets, ammonium nitrate is produced by fertiliser companies. While the chemical is on the Pakistani customs control list, it is widely available in open market. This ammonium nitrate is used in improvised explosive devices that account for 66 percent of foreign casualties in Afghanistan since the war started in 2001. The makeshift bombs have claimed 368 troops in 2010. This year, the number has already reached 143. "We can deliver you big quantities of the chemical at the right price," said Ahmed Jan, a local smuggler, one of the few willing to speak on the record. "For a higher price we can deliver you the items in Afghanistan." The US Consulate and Pakistani customs intelligence have been working closely to stop the smuggling. Earlier this year, the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Commerce was informed that more than 6,000 trucks of NATO/ISAF supplies had not reached in Chaman and Iman Garh borders. The disclosure sparked an internal auditing within NLC and FBR and corruption of Rs7 billion was found. The FBR and NLC had reportedly issued notices to 21 and 22 grade officers and had put 100 of its officers and clearing/forwarding agents in the Exit Control List. It was also disclosed that trucks carrying containers of NATO goods for NATO did not pay any levy to the government. The Karachi Port Trust (KPT) charges Rs400 from each container, and the Qasim International Containers Terminal (QICT) charges another Rs400. Experts believe the attacks on NATO containers are carried out by Hakimullah Mehsud, who had been given the task by Baitullah Mehsud. But recently, especially after 2009, "There have been instances especially in Interior Sindh in which the security establishment has used or orchestrated attacks on NATO trucks to pressure the US," according to Mathew Irvin, a security consultant for NATO/ISAF in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Some sub-contractors also report fake attacks to carry out insurance fraud. At least on one occasion, a sub-contractor was caught and fined. The attacks are not likely to stop any time soon, according to a foreign diplomat, "But we have made pacts with warlords, tribes and various stakeholders in Pakistan who ensure safe transit of the goods. They include political parties both in Pakistan and Afghanistan."

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India-Pakistan

The bigots within

2011-06-21

[Dawn] Circumvention, hypocrisy and narrow-mindedness describe best the behaviour of clergy and politicians when it comes to condemning faceless myrmidons and extremism. Fearing electoral losses, the politicians and Learned Elders of Islam have chosen to either remain mum or side with the rising tide of bigotry and fanaticism. Speaking out against it can result in death, as has recently been demonstrated. This tends to blunt the impulse to criticism. The Sharifs of Punjab are playing the most dangerous game with the fate of Punjab vis-à-vis terrorism which has become entrenched in the province due to denial of the threat's existence. There have been allegations of them being in arms with various jihad boy elements for petty political gains. Earlier, Punjab's senior minister Rana Sanaullah was photographed with the chief of defunct Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain during the by elections in south Punjab. Following this, Shahbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Rehman Malik Pak politician, current Interior Minister under the Gilani administration. Malik is a former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intelligence officer who rose to head the FIA during Benazir Bhutto's second tenure. He later joined the Pak Peoples Party and was chief security officer to Bhutto. Malik was tossed from his FIA job in 1998 after documenting the breath-taking corruption of the Sharif family. By unhappy coincidence Näwaz Shärif became PM at just that moment and Malik moved to London one step ahead of the button men. exchanged endless salvos of claims for and against the existence of Punjabi Taliban. And yet it exists. Imran Khan ... who isn't your heaviest-duty thinker, maybe not even among the top five... is another politician of the same ilk who wants us to think that faceless myrmidons are only after Pakistain because we are fighting a "US war" and not a war for our own survival. He conveniently ignores the terrorists' proclamation of "fighting to create an Islamic system in Pakistain". However, we can't all be heroes Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by... ANP is an exception which bravely and boldly took the case of the cut-throats on, wrestled free Swat ...a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistain, located 99 mi from Islamabad. It is inhabited mostly by Pashto speakers. The place has gone steadily downhill since the days when Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat... and South Wazoo and suffered several casualties in its ranks and file. Shrinking from its duty, the Parliament has failed to take ownership of the counter terrorism action. They have not amended the 1997 Anti Terrorism Ordinance which lapsed and has not been re-promulgated ever since. The politicians share the mindset with the clergy who otherwise issue infidelity verdicts at the drop of hat, like their cousins in the pre-Protestant Movement's clergy, but refuse to educate people to exorcise the genie. Most share the perverted 'jihad' mindset of imposing a system based on blood and gore. One would question their quest for Islamising Pakistain. The preamble to our Constitution says no unIslamic law can be passed in the country. A republic with majority Mohammedans has never passed anything even remotely unIslamic. But constitution matters little to them which they consider based on "munkirat". Barring the argument, the roots of intolerance go back to the '50s at times of movement against the Ahmadis. Later, the country bore witness to the blood curdling Shia -Sunni violence at the behest of the Saudis and the Iranians. This progressed into internecine intra-sunni conflict. And now fundamentalist insurgency. They are waging their "jihad" in clear violation of the Holy Koran and Hadith. As Javed Ahmad Ghamdi points out "Jihad can only be launched by the state and not independent actors otherwise it turns into chaos." Unfortunately, all the followers of Pakistain's chapter of Deoband school approve of terrorism, whereas scholars running the Deoband Institution in India have rejected and denounced terrorism as unIslamic. Qazi Hussain Ahmad of Jamaat-e-Islami refuses to denounce the Taliban offensive and terms it justified. His party, now led by Munawwar Hassan, is up in arms over action against feared terrorist and criminal mastermind Ilyas Kashmiri. Jamaat-e-Isami's Bloody Karachi chief Merajul Huda Siddiqui says Kashmiri's death is being celebrated by India. A departure from this trend is Maulana Fazlur Rehman. Deobandi holy man, known as Mullah Diesel during the war against the Soviets, his sympathies for the Taliban have never been tempered by honesty ... Albeit too little too late, Fazl's reaction coincided after two life attempts on him. Stopping short of categorical rejection, he criticised terrorism, saying "violence has no parallel in Islam." But there were some religious luminaries who acted like "light at the end of the tunnel". They bit the dust in opposing Taliban and al Qaeda's brand of Islam. Foremost among them was Maulana Hassan Jan who was a Taliban ideologue and tried to convince the latter of the wrongdoing. He received several warnings but he didn't budge from opposing the macabre deeds and was bumped off. Dr Ghulam Murtaza, Dr M Farooq, vice chancellor of International Islamic University, Swat, Mufti Naeemi, and Maulana Hassan Turabi slammed the violence perpetrated by the fringe elements openly and boldly but had to pay with their blood for sticking to their conviction. Another critic, noted scholar Javed Ahmad Ghamdi has to leave the country following persistent life threats. The Learned Elders of Islam as a whole should have taken the lead role in explaining and defining terrorism as a vice which only sows more confusion and chaos. Their effort should have been directed at reformation and education. Let's see how long it takes for sanity to prevail. Pakistani society has been engaged in driving out or killing the moderates for two generations. Who remains who is both courageous and sane, around which those who would retake their society can crystallize?

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India-Pakistan

2 LeJ terrorists arrested in Karachi

2010-12-16

[Pak Daily Times] Keeping up with the Crime Investigation Department, which had jugged a Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistain Islamic exemplar on Tuesday, the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) and the Orangi Town police jugged two 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 ... (LeJ) cut-throats in different raids on Wednesday. The SIU claimed to have jugged a suspected Islamic exemplar from Ayub Goth with a huge cache of ammunition and explosives, as well as enough material to prepare two suicide jackets. The suspect, identified as Imamuddin alias Maviya, was reportedly planning to carry out a car boom attack together with three of his accomplices on the Ashura processions. A senior SIU officer said the arrest was a major breakthrough, which would help in ensuring security during Muharram. The investigation unit is making all-out efforts to arrest Shaukat Sardar, who has a head money of Rs 500,000, Qasim Rasheed alias Ganja, Shamim alias Shani, and Rashid. The nabbed Islamic exemplar, who was wanted in several criminal cases, disclosed during initial investigation that he was involved in the Sheraton Hotel blast and Allama Hassan Turabi's murder. Sources claimed that Imamuddin was jugged from PIB Colony a few days ago, but the SIU had disclosed his arrest on Wednesday.

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India-Pakistan

Anti-terrorist court sentences six in Turabi murder case

2010-10-01

The Anti terrorist court in Karachi concluded the hearing of Allama Hassan Turabi's murder case on Thursday. Three of the six accused were sentenced to death and the other three were sentenced to life imprisonment. Allama Hasan Turabi, and his young nephew were killed when a boomer blew himself up outside the religious leader's Gulshan-i-Iqbal residence on July 16, 2006. The six accused had been charged with criminal masterminding the suicide kaboom on the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal leader and also with planting a remote-control bomb to kill him. The anti terrorist court judge, Anand Ram based on the evidence provided to the court ordered death sentences to Amanullah, Muhammad Rehman and Sultan Mahmood. Life imprisonment was ordered to the remaining three, Ashfaque, Muhammad Akber and Rahim.

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India-Pakistan

26 injured in Karachi blast near Muharram procession

2009-12-27

KARACHI: A roadside bomb wounded at least 26 people soon after a procession of mourners passed the Khalifat Chowk in Paposh Nagar police precincts in Karachi’s North Nazimabad Town on Saturday. Karachi Capital City Police Officer Waseem Ahmed told Daily Times that it seemed that a remote controlled device was used to detonate the bomb, that weighed around half a kilogramme. “Twenty-six people, including two rangers personnel and two policemen were wounded and taken to hospital. Six of them have been discharged while others may be released soon,” the police chief said. Ahmed added the bomb was placed close to a car parked on the road, adding that from now on, all procession routes would be checked by the Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) beforehand. What a good idea ... “We cannot say who is behind the attack,” he said, denying reports regarding the arrest of two suspects from the spot. BDS Assistant Sub-Inspector Abdul Rauf confirmed that around half a kilogramme of explosives was used along with ball bearings, nuts and bolts, which also caused cracks in the ground around the blast site. Sindh Police CID SSP Fayyaz Khan told Daily Times that it was likely that the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ) outfit and other anti-Shia elements might have carried out the attack. He said the CID had informed the authorities about possible terrorist activities, including suicide bombings, roadside bombings and target killings by the LJ in Orangi Town, Nazimabad, Paposh Nagar, Golimar, Gulbahar and others areas of the city. However, a senior investigation officer told Daily Times that the area where the explosion occurred was dominated by the LJ. “LJ chief Ataur Rehman alias Naeem Bukhari who is now imprisoned in Sukkur jail after being arrested by the intelligence agencies in 2002 also used to live in the area where this explosion took place,” the officer explained. He said a group led by Qari Abid Mehsud, chief commander of the LJ, and also affiliated with Taliban, could be behind the bombing. “Qari Abid has been involved in various terrorist activities in the city, including the Nishtar Park suicide bombing, suicide bombing on Shia scholar Allama Hassan Turabi, abductions and the killing of noted transporter Shaukat Afridi,” he said.

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Africa Horn

Turabi detained in Sudan

2009-01-16

Authorities detained an opposition leader who urged Sudan's president to surrender to the International Criminal Court to face charges of genocide in Darfur, his son said Thursday. Security agents came to the family home just before midnight Wednesday and asked Hassan Turabi to come with them, said his son, Siddique Turabi. An aide to Turabi, Bashir Adam Rahma, was also taken in for questioning, the son said. "The security officer, very politely, asked him to come with them," Siddique Turabi told The Associated Press. "I think this is related to my father's comments about the International Criminal Court." Turabi, Sudan's leading fundamentalist Islamic ideologue, had said President Omar al-Bashir should give himself up to The Hague, Netherlands-based court to save Sudan from internal strife. The international court prosecutor has asked for an arrest warrant for al-Bashir. A decision is expected soon. Turabi's comments were a first in Sudan, where no one has openly suggested al-Bashir surrender, even though some former rivals have said the president should "deal" with the court's accusations. The government does not recognize the court or any charges against al-Bashir.

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India-Pakistan

'Karachi saved from death and destruction': Bombers blow themselves up in police raid on hideout

2008-09-27

Three would-be suicide bombers were killed along with a handcuffed hostage when one of the bombers blew himself up following a police raid on a house early on Friday, police said. They were believed to be members of terrorist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. ... which is now an element of al-Qaeda in Pakistain. Police raided the house in Baldia Town following information from an activist of the group arrested on Thursday, AP reported. "Ow! Ow! Ow! I'll talk! I'll talk! Just put them back!" They hurled five hand grenades at the police before one of them blew himself up, Karachi Police Chief Wasim Ahmed said, adding terrorist leader Raheemullah was arrested from the house. Target: "We have saved Karachi from death and destruction. We know [about their identities and intended targets], but we cannot disclose them immediately," Sindh Police Chief Babar Khattak said, adding the terrorists were suspected of planning an attack on a 'high-profile' target in Karachi. The handcuffed hostage was identified as Shaukat Afridi, a transport worker who supplied fuel to the US-led forces in Afghanistan. He was kidnapped five months ago for a ransom of five million dollars. Raheem allegedly masterminded the April 2006 Nishtar Park suicide attack, the killing of Allama Hassan Turabi in July 2006 and the October 18, 2007, twin blasts at Karsaz. The police also seized explosives, hand grenades and rifles from the house.

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India-Pakistan

Baitullah Mehsud, LJ join hands in Karachi

2008-09-04

Baitullah Mehsud, the defunct Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ) and other outlawed jihadi organisations have joined hands to pursue terrorist acts in Karachi, Daily Times learnt on Wednesday. An intelligence agency official told Daily Times that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud was in contact with various groups in Karachi. The newly established group is presently headed by Raheemullah alias Naeem alias Ali Hassan, son of Wilayat Khan. A resident of Street 3, Shehzad Cinema, Qasba Colony, Orangi Town, Raheemullah, 35, usually wears a Sindhi cap and has been affiliated with the LJ and Harkatul Mujahideen. Raheemullah is accused of carrying out various terrorist acts in Karachi, including the assassination of Shia scholar and MMA Sindh leader Allama Hassan Turabi.The sources said that the law enforcement agencies have arrested several members of Raheemullah's group, however, others are still at large and are now planning to sabotage the network cracking down on terrorists. Daily Times learnt that Raheemullah established contact with Baitullah Mehsud and many Karachi-based activists, including Qari Abid Mehsud, Khalid Dare Walla, Mufti Ilyas, Colonel Tufaan, Qari Hussain Mehsud, Abdul Wahad Mehsud of Kunwari Colony in Metroville and Faizullah Mehsud, a resident of Sohrab Goth, have joined him.

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India-Pakistan

October 18 blasts were suicide bombings: police

2007-11-21

Chief of police Azhar Ali Farooqui has confirmed that the twin explosions that took place on October 18 were suicide bombings and two bombers had attacked the convoy of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairperson Benazir Bhutto. “The investigation team is very close to reaching a conclusion but I cannot yet disclose anything to the media regarding the involvement of Qari Zafar or any other militant group,” Farooqui told Daily Times. Responding to a question on reports that explosive material was attached to the body of a small child and went off inside a police mobile unit, Farooqui said that everyone had their own interpretation but they had not found anything in their investigations to substantiate these reports. The PPP leadership has refused, however, to accept the statement and the investigations by the police. “We cannot trust the police investigation because they did not preserve the crime scene, they lodged an FIR without consulting the PPP leadership and did not use any international support or call any foreign expert,” PPP leader Nisar Khuhro said to Daily Times. He alleged that the police had not sincerely worked on the case which is why the party demanded that they provide proof if these bombings were, indeed, suicide attacks. “We will only say something when the police and the government answer our questions.” Meanwhile, sources told Daily Times that several people had been taken into custody. The (alleged) involvement of inmates Mullah Sultan and Khalid had been confirmed, sources said, but that of groups such as Qari Zafar and Mufti Ilyas, which have previously been involved in incidents such as Nishtar Park and the killing of Shia cleric Allama Hassan Turabi, has yet to be confirmed. Sources said that investigators had mainly focused on three groups of militants – Amjad Farooqui, Mufti Zakir, and Sultan and Akram alias Lahori – and have been interrogating them.

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India-Pakistan

Four heads sent to KU for DNA tests

2007-10-20

The Central Investigation Department (CID) sent Friday four heads found at the scene of Thursday’s bomb blasts to the University of Karachi for DNA testing. The Home Ministry has claimed that there is only one head. Well placed sources in the CID told Daily Times that the CID police collected four heads from the scene. These heads have yet to be identified or claimed. After the DNA is tested, if a family member submits a claim, verification will be carried out by matching blood and DNA. Some sources in the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) said that the possibility of two suicide bombers cannot be avoided and investigation teams are focusing on the issue. A senior CID official, SP Raja Umer Khatab, said that the CID police are working on the case and that they are taking the finger prints of the body parts at the scene. Sources also said that the explosives used in Thursday’s attack were the same used in the Nishtar Park bombing and the attack on MMA member and Shia leader Maulana Hassan Turabi. Sources suspected that Abid Mehsood, who is the right-hand man of Baitullah Mehsood, was the mastermind behind these attacks and that the attacks were carried out with the help of Mufti Ilyas of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. According to witnesses, there was a suspicious man who was injured and brought to the JPMC. A group of plain-clothed men came in, interrogated him and then took him away. Witnesses said that they heard the man saying that his name was Sarfraz and that he was a resident of Landhi, however, the men surrounding him read out his ID card which revealed that he was from Shikarpur. Capital City Police Officer Azhar Ali Farooqui denied that this incident took place.

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