Posted on 04/04/2002 11:01:24 AM PST by knighthawk
PESHAWAR: Pakistani authorities have arrested 21 Harkat-ul Mujahideen men, an outlawed Islamic militant group and are investigating their suspected links to al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, police said on Thursday.
The members of the group, Harkat-ul Mujahideen, were picked up on Wednesday in a raid on their safe-house in a northwestern city, police official Ilyas Khan said.
The militants are now being interrogated at Mansehra, 300 kilometers (180 miles) northwest of Peshawar, Khan said.
The Harkat-ul Mujahideen, formerly called the Ansar Movement, was founded to fight in Kashmir for its merger with Pakistan and its members are believed to have received training at Osama Bin Laden's camps in Afghanistan.
During the US-led offensive in Afghanistan, hundreds of members joined with the Taliban and al-Qaeda to fight coalition troops.
Pakistan's intelligence agencies believe some of the Harkat-ul Mujahideen are still hiding inside Afghanistan, while others are regrouping in Pakistan to renew their attack on the coalition forces, Pakistani intelligence officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
In the last week, authorities have arrested more than 75 people in Pakistan for their links with al-Qaeda, including Abu Zubaydah, a close aide to Bin Laden who is now in American custody. Officials will not say where he is being held, citing security reasons.
In Wednesday's raids, police recovered weapons and terrorist-training manuals from the militants' safe-house, Khan said.
Harkat ul-Mujahideen is one of several groups believed to have teamed up with radical Islamic groups Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Sipah-e-Sahaba to try and destabilise the government of President Pervez Musharraf because of his support for the US-led war on terrorism.
All were banned by Musharraf on Jan. 12.
The leading suspect in the kidnap-slaying of American journalist Daniel Pearl, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, is believed by police to have strong ties to Jaish-e-Mohammed, while others still being sought include activists from Harkat ul-Mujahideen.
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