MINGORA: Pamphlets pasted on the walls of mosques and bazaars in Matta tehsil of Swat district warned locals on Thursday against working for non-government organisations, as a mullah issued a fatwa (decree) calling upon Muslims to wage a jihad against the “friends of infidels,” eyewitnesses said.
Little known Mufti Khalid Shah issued the fatwa saying that “since the US and Jewish states have made Muslims’ lives miserable, jihad is mandatory against the people working for them at international and national levels”. “Every Muslim is under an obligation to wage a jihad against the people working for the US or other Jewish states,” read the fatwa written in Urdu. It also warned people working for multinational companies to quit their jobs or “face serious consequences”.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\08\17\story_17-8-2007_pg7_8
"Terrorist gang" busted in Kabul
08/16/2007
KABUL - Intelligence officials claimed busting a 'terrorist network' and arresting a ringleader during a raid in this capital city. Addressing a news conference here on Thursday, spokesman for the National Intelligence Department Saeed Ansari said the lynchpin named Muhammad Talib was resident of Zindan village of Khak-i-Jabar district.
The alleged terrorist Muhammad Talib, alias Jamal, was nabbed along with his seven colleagues while smuggling missiles, he said. Other members of the gang included Sherullah, Saifullah, Muhammad Khan, Azeemullah, Abdul Sattar, Najeebullah and Toti Shah. They were residents of Khak-i-Jabar, Bagrami and Deh Sabz districts of Kabul, he informed. The detainee was a commander of the Hezb-i-Islami of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar during the era of jihad, said the spokesman.
Muhammad Talib joined the Taliban and served as deputy chief of Bagrami district and then head of the research branch of the intelligence department, he informed.
Excerpted
http://www.e-ariana.com/ariana/eariana.nsf/allDocs/D4B9285010FE355087257339006732FC?OpenDocument
FBI's caution puzzles experts
Published August 16, 2007
TAMPA - For days after the arrest of two University of South Florida students accused of having pipe bombs, the FBI remained silent.
On Wednesday, the agency released a statement telling the public it's possible there's no merit to the accusations against Youssef Megahed, 21, and Ahmed A. Mohamed, 26. Both were arrested Aug. 4 in Goose Creek, S.C., on charges of possession of explosives. "The FBI would like to remind everyone that this is an ongoing investigation and there is the possibility that the publicly reported allegations involving the students may be proven to be false," it read.
An FBI spokesman said the agency is still investigating, that it released the statement only because there's so much interest in the case, and it wants to be fair. "We're just making a request for everybody to be very objective at this time, very neutral," said Special Agent Dave Couvertier.
But local legal experts say there's likely more to it. "That is a highly unusual statement from the FBI," said Tampa lawyer John Fitzgibbons, a former federal prosecutor. Other legal experts agreed, but no one knew what to make of it.
"Well, who knows what that means?" said Ed Page, a lawyer who has experience in Tampa and Washington, D.C. "Perhaps the initial assessment that the trunk contained pipe bombs was inaccurate. That's a weird statement, I've got to tell you, to be coming out of the FBI." Fitzgibbons saw two scenarios. First, the FBI may not have a strong case against the students. Second, the Department of Justice may require a statement of that sort in its communication with the media.
Page agreed, adding that he'd never seen such a statement from the FBI. Neither had lawyer Stephen Crawford. "I don't think I've ever seen an FBI statement that reminds us of our civil liberties," Crawford said. "I think it shows that it's probably going to turn out that the chemicals in those kids' trunks were more fireworks than it was bomb." Bob Ulmer, a former FBI agent in Tampa, agreed the statement was unusual, but he said it sounded more like a policy decision or a deliberate attempt to be objective than the end of an investigation. "I would say they're just being cautious," Ulmer said. "I've never heard it worded quite that way." The FBI declined to elaborate, saying only that the investigation continues.
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/08/16/Hillsborough/FBI_s_caution_puzzles.shtml
WANA/MIRANSHAH: Ten militants and three soldiers were killed in an attack on a military convoy in South Waziristan, while two soldiers were killed and four others injured when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in North Waziristan on Thursday. “Militants ambushed a military convoy near Chaghmalay, and air support was sought against them. Ten militants were killed and 12 injured while the security forces suffered two casualties,” military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad told Daily Times.
Arshad said that two soldiers were killed and four others injured in a roadside explosion near Kaka Ziarat in Teti Madakhel, 70 kilometres north of North Waziristan’s Mir Ali town, and the security forces had arrested six persons for carrying out the attack. The attacked convoy was heading to Dhandikach from the Speenwam area near the Pak-Afghan border, he added. The killing of the militants came hours after South Waziristan Political Agent Hussainzada Khan held a meeting with a 21-member Mehsud peace committee for the safe recovery of 15 Frontier Corps personnel taken hostage by the militants last week.
Maulana Mirajuddin, member of the National Assembly from the MMA, said the clash at Chaghmalay could hinder the safe release of the 15 FC personnel. “We discussed the release of the FC personnel and peace with the political agent. However, hours later the militants and security forces clashed and let’s hope this incident does not affect the release of the kidnapped personnel,” he told Daily Times by phone from Tank city. Residents of Jandola, entry point of South Waziristan, said the Wana-Tank highway was blocked after Mehsud militants stopped traffic to and from Wana. This, they said, may lead to a conflict between the Mehsud and Wazir tribes. Truckloads of tomatoes and apples of the Wazir tribesmen in Wana waited for a long time for security clearance for upcountry transportation as the Mehsud militants blocked the Wana-Tank highway. The highway was later opened for traffic in the afternoon.
Earlier, Wazir elders said they feared a “full-scale war between the Mehsuds and Wazirs if the highway remained blocked and attacks on security forces in Wazir areas by Mehsud militants continued. Maj Gen Arshad said the government would not let the two tribes go to war. Separately, NWFP Governor Ali Jan Orakzai held a meeting with elders and pro-Taliban clerics in North Waziristan on Thursday, officials and security sources said. It was the governor’s first visit to Miranshah after his return from Kabul where he attended the joint peace jirga of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Orakzai said that the 2006 peace deal with the pro-Taliban militants had “no guarantee mechanism” for implementation.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\08\17\story_17-8-2007_pg1_9
2nd day of Tora Bora assault: Allies press air, ground attacks
Friday, August 17, 2007
KABUL: US and Afghan troops pressed an air and ground assault on Thursday against Al Qaeda militants grouped in the Tora Bora mountains of eastern Afghanistan, the last known hideout of Osama bin Laden. Afghan media reports said 50 Taliban had been killed but a district governor said these “are only rumours at this stage”.
Local residents said three villages had been bombed by the forces and up to 30 civilians had been killed in the fighting. The US military denied the reports. Pakistani military said it had reinforced the border to stop militants escaping across the frontier.
US military spokeswoman Captain Vanessa Bowman said the operation was intended to disrupt Al Qaeda and other militants in the region. The assault was using precision munitions to avoid civilian casualties, she said, and intelligence indicated the fighters had gathered in dug-in fighting positions. The US-led coalition here and Afghan officials have reported the emergence of a new anti-government outfit in the area called the Tora Bora Front. The shadowy group is believed to be an Al Qaeda-linked unit set up by the son of Younus Khali, a key commander in the Afghan resistance to the Soviets, who later joined forces with the Taliban.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\08\17\story_17-8-2007_pg7_1
Thank you Oorang.
OPINION: Speaking of fatwas, maybe the authorities will go visit “Mufti Khalid Shah” and have a little discussion with him regarding his fatwa. That would be nice.
More Details (photos included):
Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2007/s07080159.htm
Sunday, August 19, 2007
’Convert to Islam or face suicide bombing,’ letters tell Pakistani Christians
By Sheraz Khurram Khan
Special Correspondent for ASSIST News Service in Pakistan
A police official stands guard inside a Catholic Church in Peshawar
PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN (ANS) — The Christian residents of the Pakistani city of Peshawar, the provincial capital of North-West Frontier Province, have received letters, asking them to convert to Islam or else face suicide bombing.
The Christian residents of Charsadda and Mardan in the conservative NWFP province had in May received unsigned threatening letters that forced many Christians to flee to places of safety.
After the passage of three months, many Christian residents of Tailgodom, Sandagodom and Goalgodom in Peshawar city, received three letters threatening them with suicide bombing if they did not convert to Islam.
“These letters sent a wave of fear and uncertainty among the Christian residents of these said areas,” Kamran George, a minority member of the district government Peshawar told ANS.
He said the residents of the Christian compounds of Tailgodom, Sandagodom and Goalgodom, each housing some 2000 Christians,” received the threatening letters on August 7.
“Through this open letter you are openly invited to convert to Islam and quit Christianity, the religion of infidels,” the letter began.
It continued, “Ensure your place in heaven by coming into the fold of Islam. We will wipe out your slum on next Friday, August, 10th, 2007. And you, yourself would be responsible for the destruction of your men and material. Get ready! This is not a mere threat, our suicide bombers are ready to wipe out your name and signs from the face of earth. Consider it be the Knock of Death.”
Hundreds of angry Christians staged a press demonstration on August 8 demanding that the government apprehend the perpetrators and provide them with security, said Kamran George.
Slum where many of the Christian residents of Peshawar live
He maintained that the Christian residents of the said areas received yet another letter, which he said was written in reaction to the US Presidential candidate Tom Tancredo’s suggestion that Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina could be bombed in retaliation for a terrorist nuclear attack.
The letter, written in Urdu, Pakistan’s national language, stated: “We would be pleased to send those to Hell who dared casting malicious eye on Khana Kaba (Mecca, Saudi Arabia) and Prophet’s Mosque (Medina, Saudi Arabia). There is death here (in Pakistan) for the agents and followers of the religion of Americans (Christians).
“We would wipe out the Churches from the face of the earth because our mosques, seminaries and children are being martyred on the directions of United States. We would write a new history with the blood of Infidels. Our suicide bombers, lovers of Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) are ready to strike churches, to protect the sanctity of Mecca and Medina, and pride of Islam.
“These suicide bombers would strike at any time or day. It is our first and foremost Jihad (Islamic Holy war) to assassinate and eradicate the infidels from the face of earth.”
Some 10 police officials have now been deployed in the three compounds of Christians that received the letters. Religious fanatics hold sway in the conservative and volatile NWFP province and a surge in extremism followed storming of Islamabad’s Red Mosque or Lal Masjid.
Minority Member of District Government Peshawar, Kamran George
A couple of days ago, a Minority Member of Parliament, Pervaiz Masih, raised the issue of threatening letters in the Lower House of Pakistan Parliament, the National Assembly. Masih read the copy of the letter in the National Assembly and called on the government to take note of the insecurity it had created among Christian residents of Peshawar.
The minority member of district government Peshawar however was of the view that Peraviz should have come to talk to the Christian residents.
“It would have come as a great encouragement to the scared Christians if Pervaiz Masih had come to talk to them,” said Kamran George.
He disclosed that a few days ago when they were holding a meeting in St. John Catholic Church in Peshawar, when a man dressed in Shalwar Qameez, Pakistan’s national dress, managed to get inside. He said the man fled after he saw police officials in the Church premises.
“Though August 10, the original deadline for conversion has passed yet Christians continue to live in a state of fear,” he said.
“The letters threatening Peshawar Christians to convert to Islam is shocking. This will augment the sense of deprivation and insecurity among religious minorities,” said Rays of Development Chief Ferhan Mazher.
The writer is a freelance journalist based in Pakistan.
** You may republish this story with proper attribution.