Pak terrorism in Iran, Saudi Arabia

K Subrahmanyam  

Even as the Pakistani Prime Minister, Ms Benazir Bhutto, will, during her visit to US, try to persuade the American administration, legislators and media that Pakistan is a moderate Islamic state and a victim of terrorism engendered by the Mujahideen elements, recruited for the Afghan war and trained by the CIA, the Pakistani newspaper, News, has published on March 27, 1995, a lengthy article by Mr. Kamran Khan on the role of religious organisations in aiding and abetting Jehad worldwide.

It would appear that the Pakistani authorities investigating the connections and network of the dreaded terrorist, Mr. Ramzi Yousef, who masterminded the New York World Trade Centre bombing, have found he had also been connected to terrorist networks in Iran, Saudi Arabia and Kashmir.

One of Mr. Yousef's associates, Mr. Abdul Shakooi, had confessed to being responsible for the massive bomb explosion at the shrine of Imam Ali Raza in Mashhad on June 20,

That explosion killed 70 and wounded 200. It is reported that Mr. Yousef is fanatically anti-Shia and so are some of his associates. He was also associated with Sipah Sahaba, the militant Sunni organisation.

Orthodox Sunni religious schools in Pakistan serve as feeders for the military training camps run inside Afghanistan, designated for Arabs Pakistanis.

Investigators have unearthed evidence that Mr. Yousef also ran a network of Saudi nationals committed to establishing the royal family of that country.

According to a highly informed source connected with a large Pakistani Islamic organisation, in the middle of last year a group of Saudis visited Pakistan as guests of that organisation and obtained apparatus and technical knowledge to install secret radio transmitters. Dozens of Saudis committed to Jehad all over the world have been visiting training camps in Afghanistan.

At present, it is estimated that at least 2,000 persons, mostly Pakistanis and Arabs of different nationalities, are engaged in military training in the Afghan camps for Jihad in Kashmir and elsewhere in the world.

Since the end of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, at least 10,000 Pakistanis belonging to the Islamic parties such as Jamaat Islami, Harkatul Ansar, Markaz Dawatul Irshad and Jamiat Ulema Islam have acquired training in making bombs, hurling grenades and use of light and heavy weapons and in laying mines.

Sixteen Muslim African Americans, trained in Afghanistan, were handled by the Harkatul Ansar organisation and Mr. Yousef had nothing to do with them.

Harkatul Ansar and other Islamic organisations have acknowledged sending their militants to Tajikistan, Bosnia, Chechenya, Philippines, Burma and Kashmir.

Though Ms Bhutto has handed over Mr. Yousef, Mr. Kansi, the alleged assassin of CIA operatives, and others to the US authorities, none of the above Islamic organisations have ever been challenged by the government in their campaigns to carry out Jehad anywhere in the world.

These organisations are permitted to collect Jehad funds anywhere in the country. In its most recent fund collection campaign all over the country the Jamaat Islami reportedly collected more than Rs. 20 million during the Eid prayers early this month.

The Pakistani investigators probing Ramzi's group and activities of networks unsure how far they could go in challenging and uprooting the organisations committed to Jehad wherever Muslims are alleged to be persecuted or suppressed.

What worries the Bhutto administration, according to Mr. Kamran Khan, is the fact that most of these organisations are also taking an active part in the military struggle to liberate Kashmir.

He quotes a high ranking security official as saying: "No government can afford to take the risk of launching a crackdown against those challenging the Indian military suppression inside Kashmir."

The official also added that the top government authorities have already been informed about the

serious dangers that lay behind any crackdown against the militant organisations.

He also said the recent information that some of these groups were directly or indirectly responsible for creating unrest in friendly states such as Saudi Arabia and Iran may add pressure on Islamabad to do something serious to counter the international opinion.

Recently a Pakistani businessman was arrested in the Philippines in connection with Yousef's plot to assassinate the Pope during his visit to the Philippines.

Earlier Mr. Kamran Khan had published detailed articles on the terrorist activities of Harkatul Ansar, based in Pakistan, and the interview with Mr. Nawaz Sharif on the alleged linkage between the Pakistani Inter Services Intelligence and the drug trade resources, to enable it to pursue its covert operations.

It is extremely unlikely that during Ms Bhutto's visit these issues could be dealt with in great detail.

The Pakistani Prime Minister will pose as a victim of terrorism and as a moderate Islamic leader and seek western help, including the annulment of the Pressler amendment, without explaining how she I would deal with terrorism as in Kashmir.

Every American statement that Pakistani terrorism in Kashmir is due to non-official agencies is an encouragement to those organisations to continue their Jehad all over the world including the US.

(Courtesy: "Economic Times", New Delhi: April 6, 1995)

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Courtesy:- K Subrahmanyam, Economic Times  New Delhi: 6th April, 1995 and April-May 1995 Koshur Samachar