MUSHARRAF, BIN LADEN & THE LASHKAR
by B.Raman
The report on the Patterns of Global Terrorism during
2000 released by the Counter-Terrorism Division of the US State Department
in April had made detailed references to Pakistan and the Taliban and to
the activities of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HUM) and the Lashkar-e-Toiba
(LET). It had also, for the first time, identified the HUM as a
member of Osama bin Laden's International Islamic Front for Jihad Against
the US and Israel.
Subsequently, during a daily press briefing, a spokesman
of the State Department had, in response to questions from US pressmen,
tried to soften the blow to Pakistan by saying that the details regarding
Pakistan and the Taliban given in the report were the assessment of the
Clinton Administration and that, since the beginning of this year, the
Bush Administration had not come across any fresh evidence in this regard.
It is since learnt that US counter-terrorism experts
have been concerned over new evidence that despite Islamabad's repeated
denial of any influence over the Taliban and bin Laden and repeated
contention that the HUM and the LET are indigenous Kashmiri organisations,
which have no presence in Pakistani territory, Pakistani contacts with bin
Laden and assistance to the Taliban continue and the HUM and the LET have
stepped up their activities in J & K from Pakistani territory.
Independent reports from Islamabad and Peshawar suggest
that :
* Bin Laden, who suffers from renal deficiency, has been
periodically undergoing dialysis in a Peshawar military hospital with
the knowledge and approval of the Inter-Services Intelligence, (ISI) if
not of Gen.Pervez Musharraf himself.
* The recent circulation of copies of bin Laden's
video cassette showing him and his followers undergoing training in
Afghan territory and the interview of Bakr Atyani, a correspondent of
the Middle East Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) with bin Laden and his
aides Abu Hafas al-Masri and Ayman al-Zawahiri, leader of Egypt's
outlawed Jihad group, were organised by Pakistani military and ISI
officers manning the Taliban's newly-created intelligence agency, which
has replaced the Khad, the intelligence agency of the Najibullah
regime. In this interview, during which bin Laden was present but
did not speak, his two aides warned that "the coming weeks will
hold important surprises that will target American and Israeli interests
in the world." The interview was reportedly recorded by a camera
supplied by the ISI officers of the Taliban's intelligence agency since
the correspondent was not allowed to carry any recording equipment when
he transited Peshawar on his way to Kandahar to interview bin Laden and
his aides.
* In view of the ban on all flights from and to
Afghanistan under the UN sanctions, the only way of travelling to and
from Kandahar to meet bin Laden is by flying from the Gulf or elsewhere
to Peshawar and from there to travel by road. The ISI and the
Pakistan Army have been facilitating this mode of travel by the
foreign-based cadres of the Al Qaeda and other constituents of the
International Islamic Front For Jihad Against the US And Israel.
* In the past, bin Laden used to contact his cadres
abroad by satellite telephone from Kandahar. After the US bombing
of his training camps in Afghan territory in October,1998, he has
stopped telephoning from Afghan territory lest US Cruise missiles zero
in on the frequency of his telephone. Since then, all his
instructions to his cadres abroad are conveyed from Peshawar by one of
his aides, generally al-Zawahiri.
However, the Taliban has questioned the authenticity of
the video cassette and the claims of the journalist to have interviewed
bin Laden's aides. Despite this, William B. Milam, the outgoing US
Ambassador in Islamabad, contacted the Taliban Ambassador to Pakistan,
Abus Salaam Zaeef , on June 29 and reportedly warned him that in case of a
new terrorist attack against American interests by groups associated with
bin Laden, Washington would hold the Taliban directly responsible, hinting
thereby that any retaliatory strike by the US could be directed against
the Taliban's headquarters.
Reports from Islamabad suggest that a similar warning
was conveyed by US officials to Mr.Abdul Sattar, the Pakistani Foreign
Minister, during the latter's visit to Washington last month. He was
reported to have been confronted by US officials with fresh evidence
relating to the continued clandestine assistance of Pakistan to the
Taliban in violation of the UN sanctions.
The latest position of the Bush Administration seems to
be a follow-up of the recommendations made by the Heritage Foundation, a
conservative think tank close to the Republican Party, in a paper of July,
2000. The paper had inter alia recommended as follows:
* Even if the United States were fortunate enough to
eliminate bin Laden by military means, other Islamic radicals will
continue to threaten American security and American allies from Afghan
bases as long as the Taliban prevails there.
* "Rather than focusing narrowly on bin Laden,
the United States should focus on uprooting the Taliban regime that
sustains him and others like him. Washington should develop a
regional strategy to halt Pakistan's support of the Taliban, build up
Afghan opposition to the Taliban, and encourage defections from its
ranks. The ultimate U.S. goal should be a stable, tolerant, inclusive
Afghan government that poses no threats to its neighbors or to its own
ethnic and religious minorities. To accomplish this, Washington should
cooperate with the broad anti-Taliban coalition that surrounds
Afghanistan and help to forge a broad anti-Taliban coalition inside
Afghanistan."
* " Specifically, the United States should
maximize international pressure on the Taliban, including additional
United Nations sanctions, to halt its support of terrorism, pressure
Pakistan to end its support of the Taliban; and designate the Taliban as
a terrorist organization to set the stage for declaring Pakistan a state
sponsor of terrorism if it continues to support the Taliban. "
US concerns over the Musharraf regime's double game in
Afghanistan--overtly claiming to be implementing the sanctions and denying
any influence over the Taliban and covertly continuing to assist it--were
reflected in the confirmation hearings of the new US Ambassador-designate
to Pakistan, Mrs. Wendy Chamberlain, in the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee on June 26. The new Democratic Chairman of the
Sub-Committee on South Asian Affairs, Senator Paul Wellstone, told her:
"You have to convey a strong message about America's commitment not
only to non-proliferation, but also to democratic values, human rights and
opposition to Taliban-inspired militancy. Importantly, the decision by
General Musharraf to anoint himself as President, apparently without the
knowledge of his own Foreign Minister, is a troubling development.
Far more troubling, however, is Pakistan's mistreatment of refugees from
Afghanistan, the victims of not only drought, but the cruelty of the
Taliban regime that Pakistan itself helps maintain in power."
It has also been noted by US counter-terrorism experts
that while Musharraf's spokesmen have been projecting the jihadi
organisations as indigenous Kashmiri organisations with no base in
Pakistani territory, the HUM and the LET themselves, in their propaganda
literature and official web sites, project themselves as Pakistan-based
organisations. They give their addresses and telephone/fax numbers
in Pakistan and particulars of the Pakistani banks in which their accounts
are held to which their supporters should send their contributions.
These details as given in their web sites are shown below:
- Harkat-ul-Mujahideen Head Office: House No. B-154/,
Khayban-i-Sir Sayad, Near C.D.A. Bus Stop, Rawalpindi. Pakistan,
Phone/Fax No. 4414810 .
- Account: Current Account No. 2758-9, Muslim
Commercial Bank, Aabpara Branch, Islamabad. Pakistan.
- Monthly Journal Sada-e-Mujahid Office: I -10 Markaz,
Usman Plaza, Islamabad. Pakistan. Phone No. 051-431776.
- Weekly Al-Hilal News Paper Office: 6 Sumaira
Apartment, 2nd Floor Block 13-B, Near K.D.A Bus Stop, Gulshan Iqbal,
Karachi. Pakistan. Phone/Fax No. 021-4991819 .
Markaz Dawa al Irshad , the political
wing of the LET: 5-Chamberlane Road, Lahore – Pakistan. Tel:
(92-42) 7231106
Lt.Gen.Mahmood Ahmed, Musharraf's DG of the ISI, was
reported to have attended the annual conference of the Lashkar-e-Toiba
(LET) held at Muridke from April 13 to 15, which passed a resolution
calling on its cadres in India to emulate the example of Mahmood Ghaznavi,
capture Hindu temples, destroy the idols and then hoist the flag of Islam
on them.
Last year, Musharraf, under pressure from the Clinton
Administration, denied the LET permission to hold its annual conference at
Muridke in November. This year, anticipating that there would be no
similar pressure from the Bush Administration, he initially allowed them
to hold the deferred confertence of 2000 in Muzaffarabad in
Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK), but subsequently, when the LET insisted
on holding it at Muridke, he let it do so and asked the ISI to ensure that
no journalists, Pakistani or foreign, was able to have access.
Despite this, some Pakistani journalists managed to have
access. The "News" of April 22 reported as follows:
"The Lashkar operates six private military training camps in Pakistan
and Azad Kashmir where several thousands of cadre are given both military
and religious education…. With more than 2200 unit offices across
the country and over two dozen launching camps along the Line of Control
(LOC), the Lashkar boasts of the biggest jihadi network in Pakistan… The
followers of the Lashkar come from all walks of life from the defence and
nuclear establishment to the industrial labour."
The March issue of "Herald", the monthly
journal of the "Dawn" group of Karachi, quoted Dr.Khalid Mehmood
Soomro, Secretary-General of the Jamiat-ul-Ulema Islam (JUI), Sindh, based
in Larkana, as saying as follows: "Why is the Pakistan Army not
fighting for Kashmir? Why are they getting our youth killed there? They
are using our young men for their own goals…Let's be clear on one
thing. These jihadi groups can't function and survive without
official patronage. Is there a single militant training centre in
Pakistan which can operate without the consent of the Pakistan Army? All
militant groups are created and run by Pakistan's secret agencies.
They have mobile phones, land cruisers and weapons. Where are they
getting the funds from? Surely, it can't be all funded through public
donations. Because if that were so, we would be getting similar
donations, if not more."
And yet, Musharraf denies any links of the Pakistan Army
and the ISI with the LET and other jihadis. What more, he denies
their very presence in Pakistani territory. On June 24, a fortnight
after the famous rebuke of the Ulema of June 5, which was more
shadow-boxing than reality on the eve of the Washington visit of Mr.Abul
Sattar, Major-Gen.Rashid Quereshi, the media spokesman of Musharraf, was
asked about the activities of the LET and other jihadi
organisations. He replied without batting an eye-lid: " No
group operating in Kashmir has any base in Pakistan." ("The
Hindu" of June 25).
The LET has totally ignored the June 5 rebuke of
Musharraf and has maintained a high level of virulent anti-Indian
propaganda and has been reiterating almost daily its determination to
continue its jihad against India till India withdraws its troops from
J& K. It has been opposing the forthcoming summit on the ground
that jihad against non-believers, once started, cannot be discontinued
till they surrender and that to discontinue it mid-way would be unislamic.
In the past, Musharraf had been saying that if there was
progress on the Kashmir issue in the bilateral talks with India, he might
appeal to the jihadis to deescalate their activities. Now, his spokesmen
have been saying that since these are indigenous Kashmiri organisations,
Pakistan has no influence over them just as they have been telling the US
that Pakistan has no influence over the Taliban and bin Laden.
Pamela Constable of the "Washington Post", who
was one of the foreign correspondents briefed by Musharraf last week on
the forthcoming summit, has reported as follows: "Musharraf brushed
aside questions about whether he would rein in armed Islamic groups that
support fighters in Kashmir, insisting that the Kashmiri insurgency is
"indigenous".
It is, therefore, likely that whatever be the outcome of
the forthcoming summit, Pakistan will continue its proxy war against India
through its jihadi surrogates even while denying any links with or control
over them. Any optimism of a reduction in violence and cross-border
terrorism as a result of the summit would be misplaced. Musharraf
will continue to play his double game---overtly friendly, warm and
seemingly accommodating and covertly continuing to make our security
forces bleed. To expect anything different from him and to lower our
guard against him could be suicidal. India will continue to pay a
heavy price for its failure to evolve and implement consistently an
effective counter proxy war policy. The policy of "kabi naram,
kabi garam" (sometimes soft, sometimes hard) doesn't pay against
Pakistan. It will only confirm Musharraf in his perception that
India is a soft State, which lends itself to easy manipulation.
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet
Secretariat, Govt. of India, and, presently, Director, Institute For
topical Studies, Chennai. E-Mail: corde@vsnl.com
)
