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From August 15, 2006

Al Qaeda Will Strike Again
By Hamid Mir

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Pakistan-heard that story in Beirut on August 10th. One AP colleague of British origin told me: "I think that the war in Lebanon will be over in the next couple of days and my head office will ask me to proceed for Pakistan or Afghanistan for the follow up of a new terrorist plot unearthed in the UK".

Next day, more than four Western journalists in Lebanon were asked to leave that war zone for Pakistan, and to follow up the UK plot story. I was the fifth one, who crossed with them the frontier from Lebanon to Syria to get a flight to Pakistan. I spent more than 25 days in Lebanon. For those 25 days, I was making headlines for the Geo TV from Lebanon, but on August 11th, the headlines across the World were changed: it was about the UK terror plot, not Lebanon. Terrorists definitely provided an opportunity to international media for changing the focus of their headlines.

When I arrived back in Pakistan on August 12th, I was receiving calls from BBC,CNN and other international TV, as well as radio stations to comment on the UK terror plot. What I have learnt from different government sources was that Pakistani intelligence agencies (ISI) intercepted a telephone call made from Karachi to London a few weeks ago. Someone was saying that everything was ready for a London operation. Further surveillance detected the presence of Rashid Rauf in the Pakistani city of Bahawalpur. He was arrested. Rauf is a British national. He was broken by ISI interrogators in three days and provided a lot of useful information. That information was shared with MI6. Then the British counter-intelligence (MI5) arrested Tayib Rauf, 22, the younger brother of Rashid Rauf from Birmingham, and more people.

Pakistan-heard that story in Beirut on August 10th. One AP colleague of British origin told me: "I think that the war in Lebanon will be over in the next couple of days and my head office will ask me to proceed for Pakistan or Afghanistan for the follow up of a new terrorist plot unearthed in the UK".

Next day, more than four Western journalists in Lebanon were asked to leave that war zone for Pakistan, and to follow up the UK plot story. I was the fifth one, who crossed with them the frontier from Lebanon to Syria to get a flight to Pakistan. I spent more than 25 days in Lebanon. For those 25 days, I was making headlines for the Geo TV from Lebanon, but on August 11th, the headlines across the World were changed: it was about the UK terror plot, not Lebanon. Terrorists definitely provided an opportunity to international media for changing the focus of their headlines.

When I arrived back in Pakistan on August 12th, I was receiving calls from BBC, CNN and other international TV, as well as radio stations to comment on the UK terror plot. What I have learnt from different government sources was that Pakistani intelligence agencies (ISI) intercepted a telephone call made from Karachi to London a few weeks ago. Someone was saying that everything was ready for a London operation. Further surveillance detected the presence of Rashid Rauf in the Pakistani city of Bahawalpur. He was arrested. Rauf is a British national. He was broken by ISI interrogators in three days and provided a lot of useful information. That information was shared with MI6. Then the British counter-intelligence (MI5) arrested Tayib Rauf, 22, the younger brother of Rashid Rauf from Birmingham, and more people.

Al Qaeda is definitely trying to use some British Muslims of Pakistani origin for terrorist activity. Most of them belong to Kashmir organizations, like Rashid Rauf. Al Qaeda is successfully exploiting the Kashmir dispute for motivating young Muslims to participate in its war against the USA and the West. Now Osama bin Laden is mentioning India in his statements, as the new ally of the USA, just for drawing the attention of the Kashmiri and Indian Muslims. It is also known that many people arrested in Pakistan and the UK had been trained in Al Qaeda camps in North Waziristan and Afghanistan. Some of them slipped into Iraq, via Afghanistan and Iran, and were trainied as insurgents there. They are experts in making "laptop bombs" (remote activated bombs).

Many analysts here in Pakistan are saying, that if the disputes like Kashmir, the Palestine and Chechnya were not resolved, if USA and UK were not ready to withdraw their forces from Iraq and Afghanistan, we couldn’t stop our youth from joining Al Qaeda. Today the Pakistani intelligence saved the UK and the USA from big destruction, but maybe tomorrow these angry youngsters would be able to deceive the Western intelligence agencies and carry out their attacks. A big threat is still there. Al Qaeda will try again to organize a much bigger attack than 9/11, against the U.S. and its allies. The solution of this threat is political, not by use of military force by the USA and Israel. A continuous use of the military will only produce more Jihad militants. In Lebanon, I have met many doctors, and even professors, who joined Hezbollah to fight against Israel, after their homes were bombed and their children were killed. Before July 12th, they used to hate Hassan Nasrallah and Osama bin Laden, now they saiy that they love these two.

Al Qaeda is definitely trying to use some British Muslims of Pakistani origin for terrorist activity. Most of them belong to Kashmir organizations, like Rashid Rauf. Al Qaeda is successfully exploiting the Kashmir dispute for motivating young Muslims to participate in its war against the USA and the West. Now Osama bin Laden is mentioning India in his statements, as the new ally of the USA, just for drawing the attention of the Kashmiri and Indian Muslims. It is also known that many people arrested in Pakistan and the UK had been trained in Al Qaeda camps in North Waziristan and Afghanistan. Some of them slipped into Iraq, via Afghanistan and Iran, and were trainied as insurgents there. They are experts in making "laptop bombs" (remote activated bombs).

Many analysts here in Pakistan are saying, that if the disputes like Kashmir, the Palestine and Chechnya were not resolved, if USA and UK were not ready to withdraw their forces from Iraq and Afghanistan, we couldn’t stop our youth from joining Al Qaeda. Today the Pakistani intelligence saved the UK and the USA from big destruction, but maybe tomorrow these angry youngsters would be able to deceive the Western intelligence agencies and carry out their attacks. A big threat is still there. Al Qaeda will try again to organize a much bigger attack than 9/11, against the U.S. and its allies. The solution of this threat is political, not by use of military force by the USA and Israel. A continuous use of the military will only produce more Jihad militants. In Lebanon, I have met many doctors, and even professors, who joined Hezbollah to fight against Israel, after their homes were bombed and their children were killed. Before July 12th, they used to hate Hassan Nasrallah and Osama bin Laden, now they say that they love these two.

Hamid Mir, a Pakistani Journalist, known of his interviews with Osama bin Laden, is reporting for the Geo TV from Lebanon now.

http://www.canadafreepress.com/2006/mir081506.htm