 | In which the Paks demonstrate their fine mastery of the media puff piece... |
ISLAMABAD: An Islamist leader who had a $10 million American bounty placed on his head this week has been helping Pakistan de-radicalize militants under efforts to stabilize the strategic US ally, a top Pakistani counter-terrorism official said on Friday.
Hafiz Saeed, suspected of masterminding an attack by Pakistan-based gunmen on Indias financial capital Mumbai in 2008 that killed 166 people, including six Americans, met government officials from the Punjab province and pledged his support for the drive, the official said.
Hafiz Saeed has agreed with the Punjab government program of de-radicalization and rehabilitation of former jihadis and extended full cooperation, the counter-terrorism official told Reuters.
the counter-terrorism official said that Saeed had not been paid for his de-radicalization activities.
A senior police official in Punjab province, who is closely involved with investigations into militant activity, confirmed that Saeed and his supporters were helping efforts to transform militants into law-abiding citizens.
Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) were consulted, and they approved the de-radicalization plan. They assured us of their intellectual input and resource materials. They also offered teachers, he told Reuters, referring to the charity Saeed heads.
| More madrassahs! More jacket wallas! |
The bounty highlighted the divide between the United States direct approach to tackling militancy, and strategies employed by Pakistan, a nuclear-armed South Asian nation seen as critical to US efforts to pacifying Afghanistan.
While Pakistan has mounted offensives against militant groups like the homegrown Taleban, it also contends other tactics such as de-radicalization are vital to sustaining battlefield gains.
Yahya Mujahid, the JuD spokesman, said the group had not participated in the de-radicalization program.
Hafiz Khalid Waleed, another senior JuD member, declined to comment on whether the Islamist leader had been directly assisting the government in de-radicalization. But he said Saeed and his followers were promoting non-violence.
Hafiz Saeed was one of the first religious leaders to denounce militancy and suicide bombings, said Waleed. Our schools and madrassas (religious seminaries) are urging peace.
Under the program, former militants are urged to develop technical skills that could give them long-lasting employment to keep them from taking up arms against the state again.
Experts also try to reverse what Pakistani officials call brainwashing by terrorists militants who preach holy war against the West.
To help the deradicalization program, Saeed identifies former terrorists militants who may still be recruited for jihad because they are jobless and idle and he helps steer them toward the program, said the counter-terrorism official.
| Nice way for him to identify new people for his group... |
Waleed mocked the decision to place a bounty on Saeed.
President Barack Obamas election symbol was a donkey and his government is acting like one. They have no evidence against Hafiz Saeed and are scrambling to make up stories, he told Reuters.
Pakistani officials say Saeed, who Western officials suspect of links to Al-Qaeda, has the right to move freely because he has been cleared by Pakistani courts of a range of accusations.
Saeed abandoned the leadership of the LeT after India accused it of being behind an attack on the Indian parliament in December 2001. But his charity is suspected of being a front for the LeT. He denies any wrongdoing and links to militants.
Saeed agreed to support de-radicalization because he felt that former terrorists militants should find jobs and re-join mainstream society, said the counter-terrorism official, who has been at the forefront of efforts to fight militancy in Punjab.
The counter-terrorism official, who engineered the project, said 200 former militants had participated this year in Punjab, Pakistans most populous province, including some from Saeeds terrorist militant group. Another 100 will be completing the program by June.
Saeed, a former professor of Islamic studies at an engineering university, appeared at a press conference on Wednesday in the city of Rawalpindi, home to headquarters of the Pakistani army, recipient of billions of dollars in US aid. Flanked by some of Pakistans most virulently anti-American Islamists at a hotel about a 40-minute drive from the USembassy in the capital, he taunted the United States.
Saeed, a short bearded man, lives near a park and a mosque in a non-descript villa with a policeman stationed outside, in the central city of Lahore, capital of Punjab.
Some of his bodyguards wear olive camouflage vests while others are dressed in dark traditional shalwar-kameez, baggy shirt and trousers. Clutching AK-47 assault rifles, a few are positioned on his rooftop watching the street.
Saeed enjoys armed protection from the state because of his new thinking, sources said.
Al Qaeda or factions from the Pakistani Taleban may want to kill him, said one of the sources, adding India may want to target him as well.
Asked if the reward would anger Saeeds followers and undermine de-radicalization efforts, he said: There is resentment but I hope the program wont be affected. |
