The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Saturday, March 8, 2003, Chandigarh, India

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TRIBUNE SPECIAL
Pakistan shielding Al-Qaida men
Girja Shankar Kaura
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 7
The effortless arrest and handover of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the mastermind behind September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, to the earlier in the week has raised speculation that Pakistani authorities were in the know of the whereabouts of Al-Qaida operatives.

Pakistan watchers here point out that the sudden arrest of Khalid Shaikh, one of the most feared lieutenants of Al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden, from a posh Rawalpindi colony reflects Islamabad’s planning to keep handing the wanted terrorists to the USA at strategic times.

It also reflected that the Pakistani authorities were actually keeping the Al-Qaida terrorists in safe hiding places and areas which would attract minimum attention. By strategically handing over the terrorists, Islamabad was ensuring not only its proximity to the USA but also that it remain above suspicion from the US authorities.

Sources in the government here said the decision to handover Khalid Shaikh to the USA was not an easy one for Pakistan. But President Pervez Musharraf has apparently been under a lot of pressure from the USA and with the war clouds hanging over Iraq for possible terrorist links, Pakistan had no other option to go by Washington’s directions.

According to reports, Khalid Shaikh is arrested from a neighbourhood in Rawalpindi which is inhabited by retired senior Pakistan army generals which points out that authorities had possibly provided him with a safe hiding place. He could not have gone unnoticed by the senior Pakistan army officials, sources said.

Another thing that reflects Pakistan’s complicity in providing safe hideouts for the Al-Qaida lieutenants is that during the operation carried out jointly by the Pakistani agents and the CIA, not a single shot was fired. This had not been the case during the arrest of another Al-Qaida operative Ramzi Binalshibh in September last. He was apprehended in Karachi after a gun battle. An easy arrest of Khalid Shaikh points to Pakistan authorities taking him by a surprise.

Another person identified as Ahmed Abdul Qadoos was also arrested along with Khalid Shaikh. Reports now say that not only was he a Jamait-e-Islami activist but one of his uncles is an army officer posted in Kohat. Incidentally, Khalid Shaikh’s mother is a Jamait-e-Islami activist but one of his uncles is an army officer posted in Kohat. Incidentally, Khalid Shaikh’s mother is a Jamait-e-Islami district administrator.

Sources said Khalid Shaikh’s arrest has now put President Musharraf under pressure from political parties within the country. Both Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) and the Jamait-e-Islami have criticised the Pakistani action.

What further reflects the authorities involvement in hiding Khalid Shaikh were the reports that the hardline political parties in Pakistan were in know of the possible operation and were applying pressure for it to be called off.

Reports said while the operation was being carried out in Rawalpindi, MMA Amir Qazi Hussian Ahmed was with Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri and Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokar applying pressure on them to call off the action.

Sources said after Khalid Shaikh’s arrest, some of the other Al-Qaida operatives hiding in Pakistan could also be handed over in the near future. Some of them said to be hiding in Pakistan are Al-Qaida security and intelligence chief Aif Al Adil, financial chief Shaikh Saiid Al Masri and operations chief Tawfiq Attash Khallad.