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India-Pakistan
'US terror sanctions list not binding on Pakistan'
2014-10-03
[DAWN] The Foreign Office on Thursday termed the United States' decision to designate three Pakistain-based organizations as terror groups a 'unilateral move' that does not apply to Pakistain.

"There is a procedure at the United Nations
...an idea whose time has gone...
 to declare any person or organization a terrorist; however, the US' decision to declare three Pak-based organizations [as terror groups] does not apply to Pakistain," Foreign Office spokesperson Tasneem Aslam told news hounds at the weekly media briefing in Islamabad.

On Wednesday, the US Treasury Department slapped sanctions on two Pakistain-based terrorist organizations -- LeT and Harakat ul-Mujahidin (HuM) -- and froze the assets of their leaders.

The announcement claimed that the assets were used for providing financial support to LeT, which is accused of carrying out the Mumbai terror attacks.

The Treasury notification described HuM as "a terrorist group that operates throughout India, Pakistain, and Afghanistan, and maintains terrorist training camps in eastern Afghanistan."
Both organizations are proxies for the Pak govt...
According to the notification, in 2005, HuM attacks in Kashmire killed at least 15 people, and in 2007, an unspecified number of Indian troops were also killed in a firefight with HuM Lions of Islam in the area.
The Pak govt of course plausibly denies all connection. They probably suggest that the attacks were "false flag" attacks organized by RAW. That's what they usually do.
To date, the Treasury Department has designated 27 individuals and three entities associated with LeT.
"Tut tut! Not nearly enough evidence to implicate Lashkar-e-Taiba in the Mumbai attacks, much less the Pak govt. All 27 have alibis for the times in question, and the Pak govt wasn't even in the country at the time! Besides, all the witnesses are dead!"
Sanctions
Placing sanctions on Harkut-ul-Mujahideen leader Fazl-ur Rehman Khalil,
One of the original signers of Osama bin Laden's declaration of war against humanity.
the US treasury said in a statement, "HuM is a terrorist group that operates throughout India, Pakistain and Afghanistan, and maintains terrorist training camps in eastern Afghanistan."
...which for some reason no one seems able to blow away...
In addition, the treasury department also named Muhammad Naeem Sheikh and Umair Naeem, whose Lahore-based businesses Abdul Hameed Shahab-ud-Din (AHSD) and Nia International were designated for providing financial support to LeT.
"Tut tut, my good man! Perfectly legit businesses, we assure you! Dealers in fine shoes, fine shoes! For ladies, too! Made from hides provided by holy day sacrifices, so good for your spiritual development even whilst walking!"
In the India-US joint statement released after the Obama-Modi meeting, the two sides said, "The leaders stressed the need for joint and concerted efforts, including the dismantling of safe havens for terrorist and criminal networks, to disrupt all financial and tactical support for networks such as al-Qaeda, 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...
, Jaish-e-Mohammad
...literally Army of Mohammad, a Pak-based Deobandi terror group founded by Maulana Masood Azhar in 2000, after he split with the Harkat-ul-Mujaheddin. In 2002 the government of Pervez Musharraf banned the group, which changed its name to Khaddam ul-Islam and continued doing what it had been doing before without missing a beat...
, the D-Company
That'd be Dawood Ibrahim, the local Ernst Stavro Blofeld taste-alike. The Paks just can't seem to find him...
and the Haqqanis." The US actions point to a deeper cooperation against terrorism. National security adviser Ajit Doval has stayed on in the US to have further talks on fighting terrorism.
"Shoes! Shoes! Who will buy my pretty shoes?"
"Both LeT and HuM are violent terrorist organizations that train Lions of Islam and support the activities of many of the best known and brutal turban groups, including Al Qaeda," said US under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence David S Cohen.

"Today's designations will disrupt efforts by these terrorist organizations to access their financial networks and the international financial system," he said.
Link


Afghanistan/South Asia
US sez HuJIB is an al-Qaeda group
2005-05-02
The US has named Bangladesh based Harakat Ul-Jihad-I-Islami (HUJI-B) as a "terrorist group" with links to Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network.

According to The Daily Star, the US State Department has in a report titled "Country Reports on Terrorism for 2004" listed the group in the list of "selected terrorist groups".

The report mentioned HUJI-B's leader Shauqat Osman and the group's suspected involvement in an attempt on Sheikh Hasina life earlier last year. The group has also been accused of masterminding explosions at cultural programmes as well as maintaining affiliations with Pakistani militant groups who all maintain contacts with the al-Qaeda.

"The mission of HUJI-B, led by Shauqat Osman, is to establish Islamic rule in Bangladesh. HUJI-B has connections with Pakistani militant groups Harakat ul- Jihad-I-Islami (HUJI) and Harakat ul-Mujahidin (HUM), which advocate similar objectives in Pakistan and Jammu and Kashmir. These groups all maintain contacts with the al-Qaeda network in Afghanistan. The leaders of HUJI-B and HUM both signed the February 1998 fatwa sponsored by Osama bin Ladin that declared American civilians to be legitimate targets for attack," the paper quoted the US report as saying.

"HUJI-B was suspected in the assassination attempt in July 2000 of the then Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The group may also have been responsible for indiscriminate attacks using improvised explosive devices at cultural gatherings in Dhaka in January and April 2001," the report added.

The report said that the group was also maintaining many camps in the country, with most of the recruits coming from madrassas in Bangladesh. "The group operates and trains members in Bangladesh, where it maintains at least six camps. Funding of the HUJI-B comes primarily from madrassas in Bangladesh. The group also has ties with militants in Pakistan that may provide another funding source," the report further added.

It said that though Bangladesh supported the global war on terror, various factors like weak institutions, porous borders, limited law enforcement capabilities, and debilitating in-fighting between the two major political parties, were undermining its ability to ability to combat terrorism. Also the country's long practice of moderate Islam was increasingly under threat from extremists, who were offering an attractive breeding ground for political and sectarian violence. "Endemic corruption, poverty, and a stalemated political process could further contribute to the type of instability and widespread frustration that has elsewhere provided recruits, support, and safe haven for international terrorist groups," the report said, adding that "there was an increase in political violence" using explosives in 2004.
Link


Home Front
Daniel Pipes on identifying moderate muslims
2003-11-25
Hat tip LGF
I often argue that if militant Islam is the problem, moderate Islam is the solution, but that begs the question — how does one differentiate between these two forms of Islam? It’s a tough question, especially as concerns Muslims who live in Western countries. To understand just how tough it is, consider the case of Abdurahman Alamoudi, a prominent American figure associated with some sixteen Muslim organizations. FBI spokesman Bill Carter described one of those, the American Muslim Council, as "the most mainstream Muslim group in the United States." The Defense Department entrusted two of them (the Islamic Society of North America and the American Muslim Armed Forces and Veterans Council) to vet Islamic chaplains for the armed forces. The State Department thought so highly of Alamoudi, that it hired him six times and sent him on all-expenses-paid trips to majority-Muslim countries to carry what it called "a message of religious tolerance." Alamoudi’s admirers have publicly hailed him as a "moderate," a "liberal Muslim," and someone known "for his charitable support of battered women and a free health clinic."
A paragon. An absolute paragon...
But this image of moderation collapsed recently when an Alamoudi-endorsed chaplain was arrested and charged with mishandling classified material; when Alamoudi himself was arrested on charges of illegal commerce with Libya; and when Alamoudi’s Palm Pilot was found to contain contact information on seven men designated by the U.S. government as global terrorists.
Well, I guess we all have our little faults...
Distinguishing between real and phony moderation, obviously, is not a job for amateurs like U.S. government officials. The best way to discern moderation is by delving into the record, public and private, Internet and print, domestic and foreign, of an individual or institution. Such research is most productive with intellectuals, activists, and imams, all of whom have a paper trail. With others, who lack a public record, it is necessary to ask questions. These need to be specific, as vague inquiries ("Is Islam a religion of peace?" "Do you condemn terrorism?") have little value, depending as they do on definitions (of peace, terrorism).
And we know how the Islamist definitions of both vary widely from Western usage, yea, from rationality...
Useful questions might include:
- Violence : Do you condone or condemn the Palestinians, Chechens, and Kashmiris who give up their lives to kill enemy civilians? Will you condemn by name as terrorist groups such organizations as Abu Sayyaf, Al-Gamaa al-Islamiyya, Groupe islamique armee, Hamas, Harakat ul-Mujahidin, Hizbullah, Islamic Jihad, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Al-Qaeda?

- Modernity : Should Muslim women have equal rights with men (for example, in inheritance shares or court testimony)? Is jihad, meaning a form of warfare, acceptable in today’s world? Do you accept the validity of other religions? Do Muslims have anything to learn from the West?

- Secularism : Should non-Muslims enjoy completely equal civil rights with Muslims? May Muslims convert to other religions? May Muslim women marry non-Muslim men? Do you accept the laws of a majority non-Muslim government and unreservedly pledge allegiance to that government? Should the state impose religious observance, such as banning food service during Ramadan? When Islamic customs conflict with secular laws (e.g., covering the face for drivers’ license pictures), which should give way?

- Islamic pluralism : Are Sufis and Shi’ites fully legitimate Muslims? Do you see Muslims who disagree with you as having fallen into unbelief? Is takfir (condemning fellow Muslims one has disagreements with as unbelievers) an acceptable practice?

- Self-criticism : Do you accept the legitimacy of scholarly inquiry into the origins of Islam? Who was responsible for the 9/11 suicide hijackings?

- Defense against militant Islam : Do you accept enhanced security measures to fight militant Islam, even if this means extra scrutiny of yourself (for example, at airline security)? Do you agree that institutions accused of funding terrorism should be shut down, or do you see this a symptom of bias?

- Goals in the West : Do you accept that Western countries are majority-Christian and secular or do you seek to transform them into majority-Muslim countries ruled by Islamic law?
It is ideal if these questions are posed publicly — in the media or in front of an audience — thereby reducing the scope for dissimulation. No single reply establishes a militant Islamic disposition (plenty of non-Muslim Europeans believe the Bush administration itself carried out the 9/11 attacks); and pretence is always a possibility, but these questions offer a good start to the vexing issue of separating enemy from friend.
Link



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