India - Pakistan Crisis

http://www.msnbc.com/news/694028.asp

Top 86. Feb 15, 2002 1:55 PM

» JenL_2 - Re: Saeed Sheikh & Farhan Malik

more on The Daniel Pearl Kidnapping case from 2/15 MSNBC.com

OK - MSN is starting to pick up the leads to Saeed's kidnapping accomplices Mansur Hasnain alias Hyder alias Imtiaz Sidiqqui and Hashim Qadir alias Arif reported in the NaradOnline article above.

But still no credible news on Pearl......Jen

-- posted by JenL_2

http://www.suite101.com/discussion.cfm/i...

Top 87. Feb 16, 2002 9:09 AM

» JenL_2 - Re: Saeed Sheikh & Farhan Malik

Re: Saeed & Farhan Malik

Steven - I'm confused. There are accounts posted above about Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and Farhan Malik aka Aftab Ahmed Ansari being directly involved in the al-Qaida money supply sytem for financing terrorist attacks, in particular 9/11, but other attacks also are mentioned.

Then we have this wrap-up of the "follow the money" investigation posted above from 1/7 Washington Post:

which says...

The probe has confirmed investigators' early belief that the financing of the hijackings was remarkably disciplined and well organized, officials said. It relied largely on a steady influx of money through wire transfers from foreign bank accounts tied to bin Laden associates.

The central financial figure has been identified by U.S. prosecutors as Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi, a fugitive who many investigators believe is al Qaeda's finance chief. Al-Hawsawi, who uses numerous aliases and is believed to have disappeared in Karachi, Pakistan, just before the attacks, allegedly transferred most of the money used to pay for the hijackers' pilot training, living expenses and airline tickets in the United States, law enforcement officials said.

The financial hub of this arrangement was the United Arab Emirates, where loose banking regulations and a large population of Islamic militants provided easy cover for the transfers,they said.

And then this from this 10/6 CNN.com article posted above....

http://www.suite101.com/discussion.cfm/i...

This source said U.S. investigators now believe Sheik Syed, using the alias Mustafa Muhammad Ahmad, sent more than $100,000 from Pakistan to Mohammed Atta, the suspected hijacking ringleader who piloted one of the jetliners into the World Trade Center.

Investigators said Atta then distributed the funds to conspirators in Florida in the weeks before the deadliest act of terrorism on U.S. soil that destroyed the World Trade Center, heavily damaged the Pentagon and left thousands dead.

In addition, sources have said Atta sent thousands of dollars -- believed to be excess funds from the operation -- back to Syed in the United Arab Emirates in the days before September 11.

Syed also is described as a key figure in the funding operation of al Qaeda, the network headed by suspected terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden.

does Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi = Farhan Malik aka Aftab Ahmed Ansari or Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh or both or is it someone else? The good thing is that both are in custody, Ansari in India and Saeed in Pakistan. Hopefully interogation of these guys will help unravel the al-Qaida money supply.

Steven - sure glad you're keeping track of the evil-doers cause it's sure confusing!.....Jen

-- posted by JenL_2

Top 88. Feb 16, 2002 12:41 PM

» Steven_Russell - Re: Saeed Sheikh & Farhan Malik

In response to message posted by JenL_2:

These countries don't have official birth and death records nor identity numbers, for the most part, so they use varying names and then change them and dispose of them at will. The phoenetic translation from the Arabic characters into our western language system also allows quite a bit of variation and general confusion in press reports.

But I have them as three separate people. I also noticed the similarities, but they seem to be three different money guys:

Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi ------------------------------ KIA February 4, 2002 at Zhawar Killi by a Predator missle; a fugitive as of January 7, 2002; disappeared in Karachi, Pakistan, just before September 11, 2001
Saudi finance chairman, aka Mustafa Ahmad al-Hisawi, aka Shaihk Saiid, or Shaykh Said, aka Sa'd al Sharif. May be the same as Shaykh Said Bamusa, financial aide in the top 7 of al Qaeda as listed by US Central Command on January 9, 2002. Many investigators believe he is al Qaeda's finance chief, who uses numerous aliases.

Farhan Malik --------------------------- India PRISONER extradited from Dubai, UAE February 9, 2002; arrest warrant issued by Interpol January 25, 2002; called Calcutta police to claim responsibility for the Calcutta shooting and vowed more attacks; was wanted in Calcutta drive-by shooting mass murder January 22, 2001; linked to Saeed Sheikh who funded Mohamed Atta in 9/11 attack; collected $100,000 ransom August 2001 in kidnapping of Calcutta businessman; crime boss with ties to Pakistan Intelligence agencies; fled to Dubai after he jumped bail in India
aka Aftab Ansari, an Indian national, heads a group India suspects of carrying out the shooting of police that killed five and wounded 20 outside the American Center in Calcutta. India's Central Bureau of Investigation said Saeed Sheikh had helped Aftab Ansari, also known as Farhan Malik, flee to Dubai after jumping bail in India.

Ahmad Omar Saeed Sheikh -------------- Pakistan PRISONER in Karachi jail, arrested in Lahore February 12, 2002; was wanted in kidnapping of WSJ journalist Daniel Pearl January 23, 2002; at large in Pakistan as of January 23, 2002; released from Dehli prison in December 1999 Air India hostage crisis; was in Dehli prison since 1994
aka Mustafa Muhammad Ahmad. Born in 1974 in east London, a Briton from Snaresbrook, east London, a British student of Pakistani origin, he lived with his father, who ran a textile business, in Wanstead. Ahmad Omar Sheikh was released from prison in the December 1999 India Air hostage crisis along with Maulana Azhar and one other.

And then I have a fourth money guy whom I am still trying to nail down:

Ali Mahmud --------------------------------- KIA at Tora Bora, December 3, 2001
bin Laden's financial manager - no other info known.

-- posted by Steven_Russell

http://www1.timesofindia.com/articleshow...

Top 89. Feb 16, 2002 12:52 PM

» Steven_Russell - Amjad Hussain Farooqi at large in Karachi

Suspect identifies key go-between in Pearl abduction

AFP [ SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2002 6:07:39 AM ]

KARACHI: The self-confessed mastermind of US journalist Daniel Pearl's abduction, British-born militant Sheikh Omar, has identified a key "go-between" in the kidnapping, a chief investigator said Friday.

"Police are hunting for a man called Amjad Hussain Farooqi," the investigator, who is leading the interrogation of Omar, told AFP on condition of anonymity.

But Farooqi was not among the six people arrested in raids Friday in this southern port city, where Pearl disappeared on January 23 on his way to interview a little-known militant Islamic leader.

Police believe Farooqi collected Pearl by car from a Karachi hotel on January 23 and was the link between a network of cells involved in the abduction.

"Omar has revealed this name during intense interrogation as the main go-between operating between those who are keeping Pearl and the rest of the network of kidnappers, including Omar.

"If we get hold of this man we are sure we will solve the mystery."

The investigator said Farooqi, from the eastern Pakistani province of Punjab, is a member of Harkat Jihad-e-Islami, an organisation of Islamic militants who fought alongside the hardline Taliban in Afghanistan.

"He is a jihadi (holy warrior) who has been mainly active in Afghanistan," the investigator said. "He has been living in Karachi ... We believe he is still in Karachi."

Harkat Jihad-i-Islami grew out of Harkat-ul Ansar in 1998, the same year Ansar was declared a terrorist organisation by the United States for its alleged links with international terrorists.

Intelligence sources believe Harkat Jihad-i-Islami was the main Pakistani backer of the Taliban, whose harsh-five year regime in Afghanistan collapsed under a US-led military campaign late last year.

Police estimate that some 1,800 of its 5,000 members were killed in northern Afghanistan during the US-led airstrikes and the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance offensive.

The investigator said Harkat Jihad-i-Islami members are believed to be part of a network of cells involved in the kidnapping.

The operation was planned "very intelligently," using cells unknown to each other, he added.

"We are not dealing with an ordinary group. It is a very well organised gang who had planned their operation seamlessly."

Karachi police chief Shah said unravelling the network would take some time.

"You have to understand that it is a network, and to break a network takes time," he told AFP.

Pakistan's Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider told reporters in Lahore Friday that a "breakthrough is expected in the next 24 to 48 hours."

But Shah declined to set a time-frame for locating Pearl.

-- posted by Steven_Russell

Top 90. Feb 18, 2002 11:03 AM

» JenL_2 - Re: Saeed Sheikh & Farhan Malik

In response to message posted by Steven_Russell:

The latest on Saeed, but unfortunately no news yet on Pearl, from 2/17 Washington Post published at MSNBC.com:

<img src="http://a799.ms.akamai.net/3/799/388/1bfe..." width=130 height=170 align="left">Sheik Omar Saeed

Suspect: Pearl kidnap was a warning

Saeed tries to deter Musharraf crackdown on militants

By Kamran Khan and Molly Moore
THE WASHINGTON POST

KARACHI, Pakistan, Feb. 17 — A suspect in the abduction of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl told police the kidnapping was a “warning shot” to the Pakistani president for his crackdown on militant Islamic groups, officials familiar with the investigation said today.

Saeed said that three recent deadly attacks in India were intended to undercut Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s efforts to curb the activities of extremist groups in response to pressure from the United States.

SHEIK OMAR SAEED told interrogators that three recent deadly attacks in India were also intended to undercut Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s efforts to curb the activities of extremist groups in response to pressure from the United States, police officials said.

Saeed said attacks outside the U.S. cultural center in Calcutta, the Indian Parliament in New Delhi and a legislative assembly in Kashmir were aimed at provoking India into taking action against Pakistan. Extremist organizers — some with ties to Saeed — hoped Musharraf would be forced to back away from his public stand against militant activities, Saeed told police.

Saeed is affiliated with the Jaish-i-Muhammad militant group fighting in the disputed Himalayan border region of Kashmir. Police officials said they could not verify any connection between Saeed’s organization and supporters and the attacks in India. But authorities said he provided detailed information about the incidents and some of the perpetrators.

That information, plus Saeed’s confession in court last week that he had helped plan Pearl’s abduction, have raised troubling new questions for Pakistani and U.S. law enforcement officials investigating the Pearl case, authorities from both countries said.

SECRET DETENTION

Saeed was detained for a week by non-police Pakistani authorities before the government acknowledged he was being held and turned him over to Sindh state police, officials said.

U.S. and Pakistani police investigators said the secret detention of Saeed casts doubt on his statements and any statements Pakistani authorities may have persuaded him to give, according to officials close to the investigation.

Some Pakistani security officials said they believed Saeed was lying about his role in the Indian terrorist attacks to boost his image among extremist followers. Others said the details he provided seemed to verify some of his claims.

During the past several days of interrogation, police said, Saeed told them that he had traveled to Afghanistan “a few days after September 11” to meet Osama bin Laden. Saeed’s ties with several Arab associates of bin Laden have been described by other suspects questioned in the Pearl case, police said. Police said Saeed reportedly served as a guerrilla warfare instructor at training facilities in Afghanistan during the Taliban’s rule.

Police also said Saeed provided them with unsolicited details about his relationship with Aftab Ansari (aka Farhan Malik), the alleged gangster and chief suspect in the shooting outside the U.S. cultural center in Calcutta in which five policemen died. Saeed said he met Ansari while the two men were jailed in New Delhi’s Tihar prison.

Authorities said Saeed offered police the identities of the Kashmiri militants who stormed the Indian Parliament on Dec. 13. Saeed also said the suicide bomber who attacked the state parliament building in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir, on Oct. 1 was “more than a brother to me,” one police official said.

Moore reported from Islamabad, Pakistan.

.....Jen

-- posted by JenL_2

http://www.canoe.ca/CNEWSAttack0202/18_a...

Top 91. Feb 18, 2002 1:09 PM

» Steven_Russell - Karachi airport rockets target US forces

Monday, February 18, 2002

Karachi airport targeted

By KATHY GANNON -- The Associated Press

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) -- Police found four rockets Monday aimed at Karachi International Airport, including a terminal used by the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan, officials said.

Police suspected Islamic extremists were responsible.

The Chinese-made rockets were found mounted on homemade launchers and equipped with a timing device about a half mile from Terminal One, which is used by the coalition, according to Waqar Mulan, an airport security official.

Two of the rockets were pointed at the terminal and two at an airport hotel used as a barracks by coalition forces, police said. The city's bomb squad defused the rockets, Mulan added.

Karachi's police chief, Kamal Shah, said he doubted the rockets would have done much damage, but said they probably were intended as a statement of defiance by religious extremists opposed to President Pervez Musharraf.

The rockets were found on government-owned land on the edge of the city's Gulistan-e-Jahaur neighborhood, which has been a center of violence between rival Sunni and Shiite Muslims. Police said the rockets were similar to one fired Saturday at the home of a Shiite Muslim, in which one person was injured.

"It's obvious who did it," police inspector Asad Khan said. referring to the airport rockets. "It is the extremists we are cracking down on."

-- posted by Steven_Russell

Top 92. Feb 20, 2002 11:40 PM

» JenL_2 - Re: Karachi airport rockets target US forces

In response to message posted by Steven_Russell:

"It's obvious who did it," police inspector Asad Khan said. referring to the airport rockets. "It is the extremists we are cracking down on."

Yup - they created a multiple-headed monster.... and now they're trying to reign it in....but each ugly head is rearing up to bite 'em.....This from 2/21 Asia Times Online:

Pakistan braces for new wave of militants

By Syed Saleem Shahzad

KARACHI - The monster of militant groups created by the Pakistani establishment is likely to haunt the country for a long, long time to come as even though the wings of the organizations have been clipped, they are far from being eradicated.

According to sources in Pakistani intelligence agencies, there is strong evidence that some members of the recently banned militant groups have joined together to escalate tension in the region. This is aimed at leaving Pakistan with no choice but to end conciliatory efforts with India, as well as its cooperation with the United States and its allies in their war on terror.

Since last month's speech by the Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf, in which he promised to curb extremism, police have taken about 1,200 activists from both sectarian and Kashmiri militant groups into custody following the banning of five organizations. These include the Kashmiri militant groups Lashkar-i-Taiba and Jaish-i-Mohammad, which India blames for the attack on its parliament in December.

Since the speech, several significant events have occurred in Pakistan. US journalist Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and his release was made conditional on the freeing of Pakistani Taliban fighters being held in custody by the US. Pearl remains missing. Then there were attacks on border security forces in North West Frontier Province, with responsibility being claimed by the little-known al-Saiqa group. And on Monday night police discovered four rockets aimed at Karachi airport, where US-led allied forces are stationed.

Sources say that the groups behind these incidents emerged after Musharraf, under US pressure, vowed to stamp out the export of terrorism. While he has been successful in curtailing the activities of the leaders of the groups - Pakistan, after all, helped set them up in the first place - he has not been able to tap into the grass roots from where the new wave of militants has emerged.

The militant groups were the brainchild of the late general Akhtar Abdul Rehman, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. He was killed in a plane crash with then president, General Zia ul-Haq, in 1988. During his time as director general of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Rehman developed a scheme to set up a civilian army comprising volunteers who would generate their own resources. It was planned that this army, made up of militant groups, would be controlled through the "invisible" hands of the ISI.

Initially, the army was to serve as a reserve force to combat Indian aggression, and the plan was set in motion shortly before Rehman's death.

However, instead of acting in reserve, the groups quickly evolved into a front-line army by infiltrating into India, where they have played havoc in Kashmir and other areas for many years.

Their huge success excited the military leadership in Pakistan and they were given a free hand. From the mid-1990s, the groups started to draw widespread street-level support. They established their own recruiting offices, opened money collection centers and organized seminars and gatherings to motivate teenagers to give up their lives for religion.

With the emergence of the Taliban the groups further spread their wings. In 1999, Maulana Masood Azahar established the Jaish-i-Mohammed, which broke the power of the Harkatul Mujahideen, which had been firmly controlled by the ISI. In turn, the ISI tried to patronize the Jaish-I-Mohammed, but with little success.

This bitter truth was well illustrated by the Jaish-i-Mohammed setting off a lethal bomb near the State Assembly of Indian Kashmir, an act for which it accepted responsibility. Then came the suicidal attack on the Indian parliament. As a result, in a matter of days, the Indian and Pakistani armies were facing off across the border.

Tension between the two countries escalated, and the US, fearing an all-out war, did its best to ease the situation. But the kidnapping of Pearl has ensured that feelings still run very high, and the lesser-known Pakistani militants are determined to keep it that way.

and in Pakistan's defence - the U.S. CIA worked with the Pak ISA to create the "freedom fighters" to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan. Pak's extremist groups are in a way also our multiple-headed monster.....Jen

-- posted by JenL_2

Top 93. Feb 21, 2002 2:04 PM

» JenL_2 - Re: Daniel Pearl is Dead

Breaking news on Daniel Pearl Kidnapping from 2/21 MSNBC.com:

Missing reporter dead

Wall Street Journal reporter kidnapped on Jan. 23

BREAKING NEWS
NBC, MSNBC AND NEWS SERVICES

Feb. 21 — U.S. officials told NBC News that a video indicates that kidnapped Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl is dead. The Wall Street Journal said in a statement Thursday that the U.S. State Department and Pakistani police officials told the newspaper Pearl was killed by his Islamic extremist captors in Pakistan.

“DANNY WAS AN outstanding colleague, a great reporter and a dear friend of many at the Journal,” Wall Street Journal publisher Peter R. Kann and managing editor Paul E. Steiger said in a statement.

“His murder is an act of barbarism that makes a mockery of everything Danny’s kidnappers claimed to believe in. They claimed to be Pakistani nationalists, but their actions must surely bring shame to all true Pakistani patriots.

“We will, in coming months, find ways, public and private, to celebrate the great work and good works Danny did. But today is a day to grieve. This loss is, of course, most painful for Danny’s family, in this country and elsewhere. We ask our colleagues in the press to respect their privacy, and to permit them to grieve undisturbed. The Wall Street Journal is a public institution, but the Pearls are private citizens. We hope also that our colleagues, too, will be permitted some time and space to begin the very difficult process of making peace with this profound loss.”

.....Jen

-- posted by JenL_2

Top 94. Feb 21, 2002 2:31 PM

» JenL_2 - Re: Daniel Pearl is Dead

More on Daniel Pearl kidnapping from 2/21 World AP Asia:

Deposition Made in Reporter's Case

By ZAHID HUSSAIN, Associated Press Writer

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) - A 21-year-old Islamic militant charged in the kidnapping of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl told a judge Thursday that the journalist was seized because he was "anti-Islam and a Jew," his lawyer said.

In a closed door deposition, Fahad Naseem, 21, admitted sending e-mails announcing Pearl's kidnapping on orders of British-born suspect Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, according to defense attorney Khawaja Naveed Ahmed.

Naseem was among three people arrested for sending the e-mails announcing Pearl's Jan. 23 abduction, which included photos of him in captivity. Naseem was brought to court with his head covered by a hood and surrounded by three dozen heavily armed policemen.

Several vehicles mounted with machine guns parked outside the court building, and armed police patrolled the rooftops of this congested neighborhood in this southern port city, Pakistan's largest.

Naseem gave his statement to the judge in a closed-door session which even excluded his lawyer. The lawyer told reporters what his client had said based on the official transcript, which was not made available to reporters. Naseem was ordered jailed pending trial.

Officials cleared out the entire floor where the 11/2-hour deposition hearing took place.

According to the lawyer, Naseem told the judge that on Jan. 21 — two days before Pearl disappeared — he was taken to a house he had never visited before by his cousin Salman Saqib, a co-defendant in the case.

At the house, Naseem said Saeed gave him money to purchase a camera and that he was later given a scanner to send e-mails, Naveed said. According to the lawyer, Naseem said Saeed told him there were plans to kidnap someone who is "anti-Islam and a Jew."

In an e-mail sent Jan. 30, the kidnappers accused Pearl of being an agent of the Israeli intelligence service, the Mossad.

The Wall Street Journal has denied the allegation.

Steven Goldstein, a vice president of Dow Jones & Co, reiterated Thursday that Pearl was "a reporter — nothing more and nothing less."

"Far from being anti-Islam, Danny has conveyed news from the Islamic world with empathy and accuracy," Goldstein said. "We remain hopeful and are confident that he is still alive."

Naseem claimed that he had never met Pearl personally, Naveed said. Saeed appeared in court last week and admitted to his role in the kidnapping. He also told the judge he believed Pearl was dead.

Pearl, the Journal's South Asian bureau chief, was abducted on his way to a meeting in Karachi with Islamic extremists. He hoped they would provide information about e-mails exchanged by Pakistani militants and Richard C. Reid, the so-called shoe bomber arrested on a Paris-to-Miami flight in December with explosives in his sneakers.

Four days later, an e-mail sent to Pakistani and international media showed photos of Pearl in captivity — including one with a gun pointed to his head — and demanded that the United States repatriate Pakistanis captured in Afghanistan who are being held at a U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

A second e-mail sent Jan. 30 said the 38-year-old reporter would be killed in 24 hours. That was the last known message from his captors, and the question of whether Pearl is alive remains unanswered.

Investigators traced the e-mails to Naseem, who they said had the messages stored on his laptop computer.

Also arrested and accused of sending the e-mails were Sheikh Mohammed Adeel, a constable with the police department's special branch, and Saqib, the cousin. Both are thought to have links to an extremist group called Jaish-e-Mohammed.

Twelve days ago, Naseem and the other two suspected e-mailers were formally charged and remanded into custody for two weeks. A new remand hearing was pushed forward to Thursday because of the start of the Islamic Eid al-Adha holiday this weekend.

It wasn't immediately clear when Adeel and Saqib would appear in court again.

Saeed, the alleged mastermind, publicly admitted to the kidnapping in a court appearance last week, but that confession may not be enough to convict him because he confessed without being sworn in and without the presence of a court stenographer, the chief prosecutor said.

During his court appearance, Saeed, the son of a Pakistani-born clothing merchant who lives in Britain, also said that he believed the journalist was dead.

Saeed's statement caught authorities by surprise because the hearing was held only to formally open the court proceedings against him and remand him to police custody. Saeed unexpectedly made his confession without having been sworn to the truth and without a court stenographer being present.

The prosecution had asked for a closed-door hearing, but the judge, Arshad Noor Khan, allowed reporters to attend.

On Wednesday, chief prosecutor Raja Quereshi said investigators need more evidence to convict Saeed because the confession has no "legal sanctity."

"It has no legal basis because the statement was not made under oath in front of a magistrate nor it was recorded as per court procedure," Quereshi told The Associated Press by telephone from Karachi.

Police are believed searching for two suspects — Amjad Faruqi and Mohammed Hashim Qadeer — who had been in contact with Pearl.

Saeed identified Faruqi, known by various aliases, as the person who carried out the kidnapping.

Omar Saeed get off on a technicality?? No way!! - there's too much evidence connecting this guy to numerous terrorist attacks including 9/11. Pakistan better give him up to the U.S. and India for interrogation.

....Jen

-- posted by JenL_2