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Recent Appearances... Rantburg

India-Pakistan
‘Terrorists killed in Hayatabad were TTP members’
2019-05-08
[DAWN] A suspect tossed in the calaboose
Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un!
by the law-enforcement agencies in connection with a recent shootout in Hayatabad Township has disclosed that the alleged Lions of Islam killed in the encounter belonged to the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
Pakistain and had also planned to kill provincial ministers Shahram Tarakai and Atif Khan through a jacket wallah.

The disclosure was made by Yasir Shams in the confessional statement recorded with senior civil judge (judicial) Nasrullah Khan on May 4.

The suspect claimed that the alleged terrorists, including Tariq, Murad, Amjad, Irfan, Saeed and Feroze Shah, were known to him and were also involved in the attempt on the life of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
High Court judge Ayub Khan, who was critically injured in an attack in Hayatabad Township on Feb 28.

In the confessional statement, the suspect didn’t say that he was part of the TTP but insisted that he was aware of the activities of terrorists.

The alleged terrorists, including Murad, Tariq, Amjad and Feroze Shah, along with an Afghan citizen,

Imran Mohmand, were killed in the encounter, which began on the night of Apr 15 and ended the next day leaving a police officer and an army man martyred.

Suspect Saeed, who was reportedly arrested after the encounter injured, is in the police’s custody.

The suspect, a computer operator at a local company, claimed that he was present in a gathering a day before attack on Justice Ayub when Tariq, Amjad, Feroze Shah, Irfan and Saeed had finalised the liquidation plan.

He added that Saeed had been working on that plan for many months.

The suspect gave an interesting motive behind the attack on Justice Ayub claiming that the people wanted to kill the judge for acquitting Dr Shakil Afridi, who later went to the US, though the agency surgeon has never been acquitted and he continues to be behind bars.

The suspect said Tariq, Murad and Feroze Shah rode a cycle of violence carrying an automatic gun and pistols, whereas he (Yasir Shams) was in a car with the accused Irfan waiting at a distance from the place of attack.

He claimed that after firing at the vehicle of Justice Ayub, the three attackers approached them and Murad and Feroze Shah also boarded the car.

In the confessional statement, the suspect gave another interesting account of the botched attempt to kill Shahram Tarakai and Atif Khan.

"An event was organised by the ISF (Insaf Students Federation) of the PTI in Baghe Naran, where the PTI’s key leaders were invited. Amjad and Tariq had prepared an Afghan boy as a suicide bomber to target the event," he said.

The suspect said an explosive-laden cycle of violence was to be used by the suicide bomber for the terrorist activity but he met an accident on his way and thus, failing to reach the target.

"I and Saeed were walking around when we saw the suicide bomber with the cycle of violence," he said, adding that the bomber told them that he got scared after the cycle of violence hit a car.

"Those riding that car slapped the bomber after which he started pushing the cycle of violence instead of riding it and approaching the target," he said.

The suspect said the alleged Lions of Islam went to the Hayatabad Phase 7 house, which was destroyed by security forces after the encounter.

He said after reaching the house, the Lions of Islam abused each other.

The suspect said he repented his unlawful activities and sought forgiveness.
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India-Pakistan
High court bars handing over of Dr Shakil to US
2019-03-01
[DAWN] The Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
High Court has ordered the federal government not to send former agency surgeon of Khyber Agency
... the place to go if you've got an Indiana Jones hat and whip. Chock full of high adventure and treacherous Pathans. You should really train up to it, though...
Dr Shakil Afridi
... the Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA find Osama bin Laden in 2011 by running a fake vaccination program. He has been kept in solitary confinement in the high security Sahiwal prison, falsely convicted of supporting the terror group Lashkar e-Islam...
abroad in case of any secret deal with the US government.

The orders were issued after a bench consisting of Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth and Justice Mohammad Ayub Khan accepted the petition of senior lawyer Mohammad Khursheed Khan against the ’possible’ handover of Dr Shakil to the US.

A bench consisting of Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth and Justice Mohammad Ayub Khan pronounced the order after the petitioner, Mohammad Khursheed Khan, completed his arguments contending that any move by the government to shift Dr Shakil abroad would be unconstitutional and illegal.

The petitioner, who is a former deputy attorney general, had filed the petition in 2017 when there were rumours that Dr Shakil might be shifted abroad and handed over to the US government.
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India-Pakistan
Doctor who helped find Bin Laden ‘unwell’ in tiny cell
2018-10-12
[AsiaTimes] Dr Shakil Afridi helped the CIA track down al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden but is considered a traitor in Pakistan. A new law will allow his conviction to be challenged in a higher court.

The doctor who helped the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) hunt down Osama Bin Laden – by running a fake vaccination campaign in 2011 – is being held in a high-security prison in Pakistan’s central Punjab, where he has reportedly been in very poor health.

Sources among Dr Shakil Afridi’s family and his lead attorney have confirmed that the jail authorities do not allow his lawyers to meet him. The family is also not permitted to deliver everyday essentials to Afridi, who is incarcerated in a tiny cell just 1.5 square meters (5×5 ft) in size in a heavily fortified jail equipped with high-tech security.

The prison in Sahiwal, where Dr Afridi is in solitary confinement, was built for dangerous and high profile prisoners from all over the country.

It has an automatic locking system for each cell and state-of-the-art gadgetry including CCTV cameras, computers, delta barriers, jamming devices, walkthrough gates, and watchtowers. A five-layer security cover and round-the-clock patrolling by elite Police commandoes make it the most protected jail in Pakistan.

His elder brother Jameel told Asia Times: “The facilities normally available to common prisoners under the jail manual are denied to Dr Afridi. The authorities gave me his soap, razor, towel, toothpaste, brushes, slippers, joggers, socks and vests last time I visited him in Sahiwal.”

He said Shakil’s health was deteriorating in the small detention cell where mosquitoes buzz around at night. “They turned over his prayer beads and prayer mats and refused to allow these items in the cell. The jail authorities did not even allow hair dye, which I bought for him,” Jamal lamented.

Last week, Pakistan’s newly appointed Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi was in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. During an interview with Fox News, he gave an assurance that the government was still considering whether to release Shakil Afridi.

“He is viewed as a traitor in Pakistan but a friend in the US. So we have to bridge this gap,” Fox News quoted him as saying. He claimed that Dr Afridi had undergone a legal process in Pakistan and was given a fair chance to plead his case. “He was sentenced, convicted and [is] serving a sentence and we expect you would respect our legal process, as we respect yours,” Qureshi added.

Qamar Nadeem, Dr Afridi’s lead attorney, said: “The frosty relations with the US cannot be normalized until Pakistan sympathetically reconsiders the plight of Afridi’s family, withdraws all cases against him and allows him to join his family as a free citizen.”

He alluded to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s recent visit to Islamabad, saying the government would give a boost to US-Pakistan relations if Afridi was set free. “Whatever effort they make in trying to normalize the [bilateral] relationship will not be effective until a decision is taken to determine the fate of Dr Afridi.”

The lawyer said Dr Afridi was convicted in a concocted case for helping the CIA locate Bin Laden, an act that Pakistani authorities believed was “treasonous.”
He said the charge of funding, harboring, facilitating the Lashkar e-Islam terrorist group was a way to cover the anger of the establishment. “He is languishing in jail for years facing phony charges that were never substantiated at any stage of his protracted legal battle,” Nadeem claimed.

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India-Pakistan
US needs to respect Pakistan's legal process in Shakil Afridi case: FM Qureshi
2018-10-02
[DAWN] Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Wormtongue Qureshi has said that Pakistain expects the United States to "respect our legal process as we respect yours" while speaking on the imprisonment of Dr Shakil Afridi, who was convicted by a tribal court in 2012.

FM Qureshi was speaking to Fox News on Sunday during his official visit to the US.

Dr Afridi was tossed in the clink
Please don't kill me!
for 33 years in May 2012 after he was convicted over links with holy warriors, a charge he has denied. He had been taken into custody soon after the killing of Al Qaeda chief the late Osama bin Laden
... who doesn't live anywhere anymore...
by US commandoes in Abbottabad
... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden....
in May 2011. He was accused of helping the CIA track down the Al Qaeda leader in Abbottabad.

Many in the US, however, had raised questions about his due process under the tribal system.
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India-Pakistan
Musharraf suggests exchanging Afridi for Fazlullah
2018-05-27
[DAWN] Pakistain’s former military ruler retired Gen Pervez Perv Musharraf
... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ...
has said had he been the president now, he would have released Dr Shakil Afridi in a "give and take" deal.

In an interview to Voice of America’s Greta Van Susteren, Musharraf also noted that relations between the United States and Pakistain were at their "lowest ebb" now.

"Well, with a deal, yes. With a deal," said the retired general when asked if he was the president now, would he release Afridi. "A deal, is a give and take. Yes, indeed it can be resolved. I don’t think it is such a serious thing that it cannot be resolved," he added.

Dr Afridi, who helped the CIA locate the late Osama bin Laden
... who used to be alive but now he's not...
in Abbottabad
... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden....
, has been in prison in Pakistain since 2011. On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pledged before a congressional committee that he would continue to work "diligently" to get Afridi out of prison.

US politicians have urged the Trump administration to bring Afridi to the United States where he is considered a hero.

Defending Pakistain’s position on Afridi, Musharraf said every nation had to make policies in accordance with its interests.

He acknowledged that Pakistain’s policy in this case was an "irritant to the United States but Washington would have probably done the same if faced with a similar situation. "Purely on the merits of the case, ... would you allow... a US citizen dealing with the ISI on a very, very sensitive issue of national importance to the United States?" he asked.

One possibility Musharraf indicated in the interview was exchanging Afridi for Mullah Fazlullah
...son-in-law of holy man Sufi Mohammad. Known as Mullah FM, Fazlullah had the habit of grabbing his FM mike when the mood struck him and bellowing forth sermons. Sufi suckered the Pak govt into imposing Shariah on the Swat Valley and then stepped aside whilst Fazlullah and his Talibs imposed a reign of terror on the populace like they hadn't seen before, at least not for a thousand years or so. For some reason the Pak intel services were never able to locate his transmitter, much less bomb it. After ruling the place like a conquered province for a year or so, Fazlullah's Talibs began gobbling up more territory as they pushed toward Islamabad, at which point as a matter of self-preservation the Mighty Pak Army threw them out and chased them into Afghanistan...
. "We can resolve this irritant and exchange more accommodating stance from the United States... and Afghanistan because we have a terrorist sitting there, Fazlullah," he said.

"I suppose the United States also knows that he’s there."

Further exploring the possibilities for improving America’s relations with Pakistain, he urged Washington to listen to Islamabad’s grievances and advised Islamabad to pay attention to America’s complaints about the Haqqani network. "We need to sit down and resolve these issues," he said.

Washington claims that Pakistain has allowed the Haqqani network to use its territories for carrying out operations in Afghanistan and has greatly reduced its financial assistance to Pakistain over this issue.

Link


India-Pakistan
Dr Shakil Afridi moved from prison 'to safer location'
2018-04-28
[DAWN] Dr Shakil Afridi, known for helping track down 9/11 criminal mastermind the late Osama bin Laden
... who is now sometimes referred to as Mister Bones...
has been moved by authorities from a prison in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
to an unknown safer location, an official and family member said Friday.

Afridi has been languishing in prison for almost eight years after his fake vaccination programme helped United States agents track and kill the Al Qaeda leader.

A top prison official in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa told AFP that Afridi was moved by intelligence officials to the safer place late Thursday.

When asked the reasons behind moving the doctor, the official told AFP, "I was informed in writing that they are moving him due to security reasons.

Jamil Afridi, the doctor's brother, confirmed to AFP that he had been informed by government officials that "Shakil has been moved to a safer place."

Afridi was locked away
I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece!
for 33 years in May 2012 after he was convicted of ties to hard boys, a charge he has always denied.

Link


India-Pakistan
US Congress approves aid, with caveats
2016-12-11
[DAWN] Both chambers of the United States Congress have finally passed the 2017 National Defence Authorisation Act, which includes $1.1 billion for reimbursing the nations supporting US military operations in Afghanistan.

The largest chunk from this amount, $900 million, is available for reimbursement to Pakistain but almost half of it, $400m, has been put out of its reach. To get those $400m, Pakistain will have to get a ’good conduct’ certificate from the US defence secretary.

Like a schoolmaster waiving the punishment given to a student, the defence secretary will have to certify that Pakistain is "taking demonstrable" steps against the Haqqani network of Afghan Lion of Islams.

The measures also include a "sense of Congress that Dr Shakil Afridi is an international hero and that the government of Pakistain should release him immediately from prison".

Dr Afridi led US forces to the compound where Al Qaeda leader the late Osama bin Laden
... who doesn't live anywhere anymore...
was hiding and is regarded in the Western world, particularly in the US, as an international hero.

Passed by the Senate by 92 to seven votes on Thursday and by the House of Representatives by 375 to 34 votes last week, the bill now goes to the White House for President Barack Obama
I am not a dictator!...
to sign it into law.

Link


India-Pakistan
Relations with US under stress for three months, admits Aziz
2016-05-13
[DAWN] Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj PrunefaceAziz
...Adviser to Pak Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on National Security and Foreign Affairs, who believes in good jihadis and bad jihadis as a matter of national policy...
conceded on Thursday that relations with the US had been under stress for the past three months because of conditions Washington had attached to the funding of F-16s sale.

The confession was made by the adviser while winding up a debate in the Senate on an adjournment motion on the US decision to withdraw proposed subsidy on the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Pakistain.

The adviser said that Pakistain-US relations had come to a standstill in 2011 because of unfortunate incidents of WikiLeaks, Raymond Davis, Abbottabad
... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden....
operation, Datta Khel and Salala. Since 2013, he said Pakistain’s relations with the US had witnessed an "upward trajectory".

"In the past three months, however, this upward trajectory in relations has witnessed a downward slide, as reflected in a decision of the US Congress to block partial funding for eight F-16 aircraft," he said.

Mr Aziz said that the US action might have been caused by concerns raised by Washington on the nuclear issue which had been categorically rejected by Pakistain.

Haqqani network still top US concern
"We have also rejected frequent demands, especially by the US Congress, for the release of Dr Shakil Afridi. The US officials, Congress, think-tanks and media, in tandem with our adversaries, have also been blaming Pakistain for supporting the Haqqani network without giving any concrete evidence to enable us to take additional action against it or other terrorist organizations," he added.

However,
a woman is only as old as she admits...
Mr Aziz said, the Haqqani Network issue remained the top US concern at the moment. The Indian lobby in the US, he said, had also been highly pro-active in adding fuel to the fire, especially after the Pathankot incident.
Link


India-Pakistan
Solicitor of imprisoned Paki Dr. Shakil Afridi now Tango Uniform
2015-03-18
[Right Scoop] A Pakistani lawyer under death threats for defending a doctor who helped CIA agents hunt al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was shot dead on Tuesday, police said, and two militant groups claimed responsibility.

Samiullah Afridi represented Dr Shakil Afridi, who was jailed in 2012 for 33 years for running a fake vaccination campaign believed to have helped the U.S. intelligence agency track down bin Laden. That sentence was overturned in 2013 and the doctor is now in jail awaiting a new trial.
.....as well as a new lawyer.
Samiullah Afridi was shot dead on Tuesday as he was returning to his home in the northwestern city of Peshawar, police said. According to media, he had recently returned there from abroad after leaving Pakistan for his safety.

"He was returning home when armed men opened fire. He died on the spot," police official Jamal Hussain said. A hospital spokesman added that Samiullah Afridi was shot twice, in the abdomen and the neck.
No one in Afridi's protective detail was injured. Oh, there was no protective detail ?
Two Pakistan militant groups claimed responsibility for the lawyer's death. Jundullah, a Taliban splinter group, said: "We killed him because he was defending Shakil, who is our enemy."

A Taliban faction, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan Jamaatul Ahrar (TTP-JA), later said it had shot him. "Dr Shakil Afridi had spied on our respected and supreme leader Sheikh Osama to the CIA," TTP-JA spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said.
....or so the story goes.
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India-Pakistan
Dr Shakil Afridi's lawyer gunned down in Peshawar
2015-03-18
[DAWN] Dr Shakil Afridi's counsel -- Samiullah Afridi -- was rubbed out Tuesday evening, SSP Operations told DawnNews.

Samiullah Afridi had only recently returned to Pakistain after having spent three months abroad.

SSP Operations said Samiullah Afridi was rubbed out near Mithra, Aslam Dheri area of the city, while he was on his way home.
Link


India-Pakistan
OBL not traced due to Afridi's fake polio campaign: Sartaj
2014-05-14
[DAWN] Advisor to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs and National Security Sartaj Aziz informed the National Assembly on Tuesday that this perception was wrong that the late Osama bin Laden
... who used to be alive but now he's not...
was traced in Abbottabad
... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden....
due to the fake polio
...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set...
campaign launched by Dr Shakil Afridi.

Responding to a point of order raised by Senator Farhatullah Babar of Pakistain Peoples Party (PPP), he said that the wrong perception led to attacks on polio workers, adding that there were only 60 to 65 different areas in the country where the campaign could not be launched properly.

Aziz said the United Nations
...a formerly good idea gone bad...
' name was mistakenly mentioned in the list of NGOs involved in Shakil Afridi's fake campaign, which had been clarified in today's newspapers as well.

Earlier, on a point of order, Senator Babar said it was a matter of concern that World Health Organisation (WHO) had recommended some travel restrictions over Pakistain on polio issue.

He said the statement issued by the foreign office in response to WHO mentioned that a fake campaign was conducted by Shakil Afridi in Pakistain to trace the al Qaeda leader, in which, all the international NGOs were involved.

The PPP senator further said that as the Abbottabad Commission's report was still not made public, the statement of the foreign office was misleading the nation.
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India-Pakistan
Lawyer quits Dr Shakil case over death threats
2014-05-12
[DAWN] One of the lawyers for Dr Shakil Afridi convicted for links with a banned Death Eater outfit on Saturday announced withdrawal from the case citing death threats and the US pressure.

Dr Shakil is suspected of helping the American CIA trace the late Osama bin Laden
... who is no longer with us, and won't be again...
Samiullah Afridi, a lead counsel for Dr Shakil, told Dawn that he had been pursuing the case since May 2012 when his client was convicted by an assistant political agent for links with Bara-based banned Lashkar-e-Islam and had stood life threats from 'certain' quarters.
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