Qaida in partnership with Lashkar in India

NEW DELHI: Terror does leave a calling card. As the enormity of the attack on Mumbai sank in, it seemed like the arrival of al-Qaida in India, a version of 9/11 designed to attract a global audience given the scale of violence and the planned targeting of westerners.

With the capture of a terrorist, the actual authors were revealed. It wasn't the al-Qaida. But the jihadi credentials were not much less impressive with Lashkar-e-Taiba named as the suspect. Given the operation's obvious planning, few doubted it was the deadly firm of LeT-ISI in action yet again.

Yet the difference between LeT and al-Qaida is not so significant as might have once been the case. In recent years, Lashkar has emerged as not only the single largest pan-Indian terror threat, but also a partner with al-Qaida in jihadi battlegrounds like Iraq, Chechnya and Afghanistan. It has shared training camps and cadre and used al-Qaida-Taliban facilities for a "jihad" against India.

It has been proscribed by US and UK who have recognised LeT to be a global terrorist organisation. In UK, it has been allied to the Kashmiri underground, for long recognised as one of the easiest way to get into the jihadi circuit which leads to Pakistan. It poses as a charity and openly seeks donations in Pakistani cities for the "Kashmir cause" and its leader, Prof Hafiz Saeed, is allowed free movement apart from occasional cosmetic spells of house arrest.

Before the Markaz-da'wa wal-irshad, the Lashkar's religio-political wing, was banned, its website regularly carried the view of its founder. Saeed's view of LeT's mission was quite unambiguous. He argued that Kashmir was the "gateway" to India, much of which comprised "lost Muslim lands". He saw jihad in Kashmir as a religious duty and fully identified himself with the 9/11 mayhem that Osama bin Laden wreaked.

Aligned with the Ahl-e-Hadees sect, Lashkar was founded in 1987 by Saeed, who incidentally was also trained as an engineer like Osama and many other prominent jihadis, and who drew his inspiration from the Egypt-based Muslim Brotherhood — an organisation that saw Palestine as an Islamic cause way back in the 1930's. In collaboration with ISI, Lashkar built up an impressive Kashmir portfolio with recruits chiefly drawn from Pakistani Punjabis, Pashtoons, Bangladeshis, Arabs and south-east Asians.

But its vision has never been Kashmir-centric as it bids to re-establish Muslim rule from Morocco to Indonesia and also eyes north Australia as part of its likely domain.

But its vision has never been Kashmir-centric as it bids to re-establish Muslim rule from Morocco to Indonesia and also eyes north Australia as part of its likely domain.

And the key point to note is that the terrorists have been found to be mostly Pakistani Punjabis, NOT Kashmiris. They also made it a point to attack Jews -- not a standard Kashmir issue.

Lashkar was founded in 1987 by Saeed..

They forgot one of the other founders - a guy named Osama bin Laden. Apparently he put up the money for their original camp, etc.

Claiming Lashkar isn't Al Quaida is like claiming there is no connection between Mercury and Ford.

Thanks. You are right. I'll put up the link by piasa:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2139465/posts?page=4#4

1987 : (PAKISTAN : THE MARKAZ aka DAWA AL IRSHAD, FOUNDED BY IQBAL & SAEED OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY OF LAHORE; AZAM OF THE INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY; BIN LADEN ... THE MARKAZ WOULD BECOME POLITICAL WING OF LASHKAR-E-TOIBA aka LeT-- See BIN LADEN) The Markaz [Dawa Al Irshad (the Centre For Preaching) ] was founded in 1987, at the inspiration of Osama bin Laden, by Zafar Iqbal and Hafiz Mohammad Saeed of the University of Engineering and Technology of Lahore and Abdullah Azam of the International Islamic University, which has been funded by bin Laden. (Abdullah Azam was killed in an explosion at Peshawar in 1989 and, after his death, Zafar Iqbal and Hafiz Mohammad Saeed have been leading the Markaz while continuing to teach at the University.) The headquarters of the Markaz [Dawa Al Irshad (the Centre For Preaching) ], occupying over 190 acres of land, are located at Muridke, about 45 kms from Lahore in Pakistani Punjab. Its vast campus contains a huge Jamia mosque for the construction of which bin Laden had reportedly contributed Rs.10 million, a garments factory, an iron foundry, a wood works factory, a swimming pool and three residential colonies for the inmates. A big Islamic University is also coming up. - "Lashkar e Taiba: A Backgrounder," EXTRACTS FROM PAPER DATED 26-8-1998, TITLED " MARKAZ DAWA AL IRSHAD: TALIBANISATION OF NUCLEAR PAKISTAN"

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