Missile kills Pakistan tribal head

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_14-8-2004_pg7_2

Tribes nearly come to blows over govt support

By Mujeebur Rehman

WANA: Differences among tribesmen over whether to support the government in the ongoing crackdown on militants turned sour as they pulled guns on each other when Ahmedzai Wazir tribes held a jirga on Friday.

"They [elders] nearly came to blows and pointed guns at each other," said a tribal elder from the Khojelkhel sub-tribe. He said the jirga was held to discuss differences over the 36-member committee supervising the lashkar and whether or not to support the government in its fight against foreign militants hiding in South Waziristan.

"It was the most disorderly jirga in Ahmedzai Wazir tribes' history. Thank God that some elders calmed the situation and averted a bloody clash," he added. The Ahmedzai Wazirs, consisting of nine major Waziristan tribes, was sharply divided over the committee's role. Formed two months ago, it was assigned to supervise the tribal lashkar assigned to fight wanted tribesman and Al Qaeda militants.

"The jirga failed to decide if it wanted accept a Shakai-type agreement with the government," the tribal elder said. Three Shakai tribes – Sperkai, Shudyakhel and Khuniyakhel - reached an agreement with the government on July 5 to support the government against local and foreign militants. The agreement helped lift economic sanctions imposed on tribesmen on May 29.

Elders from Ahmedzai Wazir tribes thought a similar agreement with the government could help lift sanctions against them. Tribal elder Malik Behram Khan told Daily Times that the jirga would be held again on Saturday and he hoped it might reach agreement.

Meanwhile, an official from a seminary run by the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, his driver and a security guard were injured when a jeep they were riding in hit a landmine in Shakai on Friday. Maulvi Hasan and his driver were taken to hospital in Peshawar.

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2004/August/subcontinent_August489.xml&section=subcontinent

US military sees widening crack in Taleban leadership (Reuters)

14 August 2004

KABUL - There are signs of the Taleban leadership "falling apart", a US military spokesman said on Saturday, citing reports this week that a breakaway faction no longer recognises Mullah Mohammad Omar.

The one-eyed Mullah Omar became one of the world's most wanted men for helping shelter Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda network until late 2001, when US led forces drove the Taleban militia from power in Afghanistan.

Reuters reported on Monday that a dissident group named Taleban Jamiat Jaish-e-Muslimeen (Muslim Army of the Taleban) had broken away, taking with it about one-third of the Taleban's fighting strength.

"That's a significant development which demonstrates the Taleban are falling apart a little bit on the leadership side," Major Scott Nelson told a regular news briefing in Kabul.

Nelson said the military was still assessing what impact the split was having on the Islamist militants' strategy and operations against US-led forces in Afghanistan.

"That fissure is widening -- we see that. Specifically what that means we're still looking into it," he said.

The new group was being led by Mulla Syed Mohammad Akbar Aga, a 45-year-old commander from the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, Sabir Momin, who was the Taleban's deputy operations commander in southern Afghanistan, told Reuters on Monday.

The rift within the Taleban come hard on the heels of a series of arrests of Al Qaeda members in neighboring Pakistan, suggesting success on two fronts in the US-led war on terror.

There are around 18,000 US-led troops combing the south and east of Afghanistan for Taleban and Al Qaeda members.

Another eight thousand peacekeepers are part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) stationed in Kabul and northern parts of the country.

The peacekeeping force has been beefed up ahead of Afghanistan's landmark presidential election in October, as the Taleban and its allies are expected to intensify a campaign of violence. Close to one thousand people have been killed in the past year, including militants.

Nelson said the US-led forces working with the newly formed Afghan National Army were obtaining more and more information from local people on Taleban movements.

Taleban remnants are believed to have links with Al Qaeda, the group they sheltered from the 1990s, and militant Islamic forces loyal to former Afghan prime minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.

They have probably arrested more than these 5 the last days...

http://www.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=45531&cat=India

Pak denies arrest of 5 Qaeda militants
Rawalpindi | August 14, 2004 5:59:33 PM IST

Pakistan Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat has refuted Information Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed's recent statement saying that as many as five al-Qaeda militants had been arrested.

Denying the arrests, Hayat said that the impression drawn from Rasheed's statement was incorrect, The Nation reported Saturday.

Urging the media to be cautious while reporting such cases, the minister said that the role of media should be objective as it was in the middle of a war against terrorism.

"Positive reporting can help the national cause, however, at times sensational and incorrect reports not only create unnecessary alarm but also hurt the course of investigation in important cases," the paper quoted him as saying.

On a number of occasions over the past few days, Hayat has suggested that details about the arrested al Qaeda men should not be made public as it could jeopardise cracking the terrorist organisation's network in the future.

On Friday he even urged the US to keep mum on such arrests. (ANI)

http://www.123bharath.com/india-news/index.php?action=fullnews&id=8303

Pak religious parties aiding terror acts of Al Qaeda :

World News Islamabad, Aug 14 : Top MMA leaders sat as mute spectators while Pakistan Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat said Friday in the National Assembly that religio-political parties in the country were extending all possible help to the Al Qaeda's terror network.

"I don't want to go into the controversy but let me tell you that all the Al Qaeda operatives arrested (recently) were picked up from their (religious parties) regional headquarters," the Daily Times quoted Hayat as saying.

He alleged that the religious parties were supporting the terror activities of Al Qaeda, adding that the leaders of religious parties were 'two-faced' in politics.

The report further said that no MMA leader contradicted the interior minister's statement even though senior Muttahida leaders, including Qazi Hussain Ahmed, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed and Liaquat Baloch, sat inside the National Assembly.

Stating that these religious parties were hands-in-glove with the al Qaeda, the minister said that all the terrorists belonging the militant organisation arrested recently, were nabbed from the headquarters of these parties. (ANI)

We are all waiting. Here are more sat phones that might be useful:

http://www.hipakistan.com/en/detail.php?newsId=en70661&F_catID=&f_type=source

Four more al-Qaeda suspects arrested

LAHORE: Authorities have arrested another four suspects in their ongoing hunt against al-Qaeda linked militants, officials said on Saturday.

Police arrested two suspects, Muhammad Imran and Qari Muhammad Noor, from Sargodha and Faisalabad on Friday, a police officer, Muhammad Amin said.

Imran was wanted for a July 30 suicide attack on Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz, he said.

Imran was arrested in a raid on an Islamic seminary in Faisalabad, he said, adding a satellite telephone and "important" documents were seized during the raid on the seminary that Imran headed. He said that Imran "coordinated" the attack on Shaukat, but did not give details.

Imran fled when police and intelligence agents raided his home late on Friday, but he was picked up later in a bazaar in the town.

The official said Imran, a member of the Jaish-e-Muhammad, was present at the scene of the attack on Shaukat. Noor was arrested along with two other unidentified companions in Faisalabad, he said.

Investigators were questioning them about their links with al-Qaeda operatives plotting the assassination of Pakistani leaders, he said.

http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/news_service/middle_east_full_story.asp?service_id=3119

Terror plot foiled in Pakistan
8/15/2004 6:30:00 PM GMT

Source: AP

The arrests of two suspects in the Pakistani capital is said to have foiled a terror plot to assassinate senior Cabinet ministers and led to a series of raids against other militants, intelligence officials said Sunday.

The suspects purportedly belong to a group linked to Al Qaeda network, accused in an assassination attempt in June against, the top general in Karachi that left 10 people dead.

Meanwhile security agencies are hunting for Abu Farj, a Libyan believed to be al-Qaeda's commander in Pakistan, accused of masterminding two assassination attempts against President Gen. Pervez Musharraf in December.

Intelligence officials said that Abu Farj is believed to have trained Pakistani militants at an al-Qaida camp in the lawless tribal area of South Waziristan near the Pakistani border with Afghanistan.

Since mid-July, Pakistan has seized more than 30 terror suspects and uncovered valuable al-Qaida intelligence that has led to a dozen more arrests in Britain and a terror alert in the United States.

As the counterterrorism operations have continued during the past week, Pakistani government officials have become increasingly guarded with information about the investigations.

They have offered only sketchy details of the latest arrests apparently after news of the July 13 arrest of a Pakistani al-Qaida computer expert was leaked prematurely to reporters in Washington, interfering with efforts to entrap more terror suspects.

Intelligence agencies last week in Islamabad made a number of terrorist arrests and also seized rockets and missiles, a senior security official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

The official has asserted that the suspects were planning to attack Saturday's official celebrations of Independence Day marking the 57th anniversary of Pakistan's freedom from British occupation, targeting important government installations.

Two of the detained suspects were also plotting to kill senior Cabinet ministers including the ministers of foreign affairs, information and the interior said intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity.

They said the arrests triggered about 10 more arrests in other parts of eastern Punjab province including in the town of Sargodha, and that more raids and arrests are on their way.

Officials on Saturday reported the arrests of an Afghan and a Pakistani suspected in an assassination attempt last month on prime minister designate Shaukat Aziz that left 10 people dead, although Aziz survived unhurt.

A Web site, believed to speak for Osama bin Laden's network, claimed responsibility soon after the attack and threatened more violence and bloodshed. It was impossible, however, to verify the note's authenticity.

Musharraf has previously blamed al-Qaida for the two attempts on his life in December.

http://www.dawn.com/2004/08/15/welcome.htm

No security forces personnel killed in S Waziristan: ISPR RAWALPINDI, Aug 15 : A spokesman of ISPR has said that no security forces personnel were killed or injured in
South Waziristan as reported in a section of press. He said miscreants did resort to unprovoked rocket firing on a security forces camp in Wana. Security forces responded effectively and
targeted the positions of miscreants and there were no casualties of the security forces personnel. (APP) (Posted @ 18:20 PST)

http://www.observerindia.com/cps/from_pak/news.htm

Nine Afghan troops killed near Khost

A US helicopter was damaged and 9 Afghan troops were killed in an
attack by remnants of the Taliban on the Pak-Afghan border abut five
kilometer away from Khost, report said.

Taliban spokesman Molvi Mahmoodullah Haqyar is reported to have said
that troops of the Afghan army encircled the Taliban members near
Panjwai and the clashes that ensued 9 afghan forces were killed, while 6
more were seriously injured. Some Taliban members are also believced to
have been killed, but their numbers are not known. Reports also indicated
that fleeing Taliban members thereafter engaged American troops in
clashes and it is feared that 4 US army troops were killed at Shajoi and 4
more at Mosiakala. The news report said the helicopter was damaged
following a rocket attack.
Source: Daily Pakistan

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4&section=0&article=49886&d=15&m=8&y=2004

Worried Italy Boosts Security
Christian Spillmann • Agence France Presse

ROME, 15 August 2004 — Security was boosted — but quietly — in Italian cities, ports, train stations, subways and
airports yesterday, the day before the deadline runs out from a group linked to the Al-Qaeda network warning Italy to pull its
troops out of Iraq or face attack.

After two threats in two months, one of which forecast a “bloodbath” on the magnitude of Sept. 11, police Commissioner
Achille Sera said authorities wanted to be prepared — without giving Italians or the thousands of foreign tourists now in the
“Eternal City” the feeling they are inside a war zone.

Police and paramilitary troops stood guard outside the Senate, the elegant Piazza Navonna, the nearby Pantheon, the Piazza
Venezia, among other Rome landmarks, as well as outside the residence here of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who is
away at his holiday home on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia.

Heightened controls were also in place at the US Embassy and the world-famous Colosseum. The daily Corriere della Sera
said some 200 ambulances and 300 doctors would be on call — and even traffic police were being mobilized, ready for
action.

A statement published in an Arabic newspaper on Aug. 1 in the name of Abu Hafs Al-Masri Brigades threatened to strike
Italians everywhere unless Rome withdrew its nearly 3,000 troops within 15 days. The same group claimed responsibility for
the bloody March 11 attack on a Madrid commuter train that killed 191 people as well as the November 2003 bombings of
British interests in Istanbul in which 25 people died. Though heavier than usual, security was far from the vast deployment put
in place during recent anti-war demonstrations in Rome and the June visit of US President George W. Bush.

The text is here:

Police arrest al Qaeda link
Aug 16, 2004

Kuwaiti police arrested a Kuwaiti man on Monday on suspicion of funding militant attacks in Iraq and links to al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a security source said.

"The man has been arrested for aiding in the financing of terror operations in Iraq, possibly in collaboration with Zarqawi," the source told Reuters, but did not name the man.

"The suspect is also thought to have partnered with Mohsen al-Fadli to finance jihad operations in Iraq," the source added.

Fadli is one of four Kuwaitis being sought by state security for suspected links with Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda group and enlisting youths to fight foreign troops in Iraq and Kuwait.

The source said the public prosecution would now file a separate case against Fadli and the suspect arrested on Monday.

Zarqawi, a Jordanian, has claimed responsibility for many attacks against U.S.-led troops and Iraqi officials since Saddam Hussein was ousted last year and also the killing of several foreign hostages among dozens seized since April.

Pro-US Kuwait has tightened security after a surge of violence in neighbouring Saudi Arabia and Iraq, which invaded the tiny oil-rich Gulf state in 1990.

comment: The name Mohsen is common in Iran

Number of arrested
http://www.turkishpress.com/turkishpress/news.asp?ID=24659

Al- Qaeda Fleeing Pakistan In Wake Of Crackdown: Musharraf
AFP: 8/16/2004

ISLAMABAD, Aug 16 (AFP) - President Pervez Musharraf said Monday that a crackdown by Pakistani security forces against Al-Qaeda militants has forced members of the terror network to move to other countries.

"They are desperate. They are trying to move away. They are perhaps trying to relocate elsewhere in the world," Musharraf said during a state television interview.

Pakistani security forces have mounted several successful operations netting up to 600 Al-Qaeda agents including several key operatives who had fled Afghanistan after the US-led invasion of 2001, the president said.

"We are on the winning side... we have major successes" in the fight against extremists, Musharraf said.

"We are attacking the masterminds to dry up the source of terrorism and they are on the run," he added.

Security forces captured Naeem Noor Khan, a 25-year-old Pakistani computer expert from the eastern city of Lahore in mid-July.

Khan has provided investigators with one of the biggest troves of information ever unearthed on Osama bin Laden's shadowy terrorist network, leading to the capture of major Al-Qaeda operatives in Pakistan and Britain and revealing fresh plans to launch terrorist attacks in the US.

http://www.dawn.com/2004/08/17/top4.htm

Troops launch search operation in Raghzai

By Our Correspondent

WANA, Aug 16: Hundreds of troops started a search operation in South Waziristan on Monday to track down militants, officials and eyewitnesses said.

Backed by several helicopter gunships, army and paramilitary troops searched various fortress-like mud-houses of suspected militants in the Raghzai area.

A source said that no arrest was made in the operation, conducted near the Afghan border, about 20 kilometres west of Wana, the regional headquarters. Army and paramilitary troops were moved from Zari Noor Brigade Headquarters towards areas near Afghanistan border, where foreign and tribal militants are believed to have their sanctuaries.

The sources said that the government had decided to go for 'snap raids' in the volatile region to catch suspected militants. Troops have sealed off Sarghashi, Shah Alam and Raghzai areas, set up check posts along the routes and imposed night curfew.

Villagers in Raghzai told Dawn that they had received verbal order from military officials "to confine themselves in their homes." "We have been ordered not to come out of our houses during night," a resident said.

Tribesmen in Wana town and other areas of South Waziristan have been experiencing night curfew for the last one month. The authorities imposed night curfew in several parts following rocket attacks and ambush on military installations.

Official sources said that security forces searched the houses of six tribesmen during the operation, which was started at about 7am, but no-one offered resistance.

The army troops searched the houses of Hayat Khan, Hakim Khan, Mohammad Ghulam, Noor Khan, Kamal Khan and Noor Zali Khan, the sources said. "Soldiers were looking very desperate for catching someone, but they could not find any suspect," local villagers said.

The first Burmese linked to Qaeda

http://www.dawn.com/2004/08/17/top3.htm

Foreigner, Pakistani Al Qaeda suspects held

By Our Reporter

LAHORE, Aug 16: Intelligence agencies detained here on Monday a foreigner and a Pakistani suspected to have links with Al Qaeda.

An intelligence source said that the foreigner was from Burma and the Pakistani, identified as Mohammad Shafiq, a militant who belonged to the banned Jaish-i-Muhammad.

He said the arrests were made after a cell phone call was intercepted in Karachi, adding that Al Qaeda operative in custody was contacted by the two suspects through the cell phone. An intelligence team conducted a raid in the Lahore cantonment area and picked up the two suspects from a rented house.

Six cell phones, cash amounting to $11,500 and some important documents were seized from them, the intelligence official said. The Pakistani suspect is from Muridke in Shaikhupura.

He is Abu Hamza, that is not a Burmese name http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_17-8-2004_pg1_3

Two Qaeda operatives arrested

By Mubasher Bukhari

LAHORE: Law enforcement agencies have arrested two more Al Qaeda suspects for a suicide attack on prime minister in-waiting Shaukat Aziz, intelligence sources told Daily Times. Three Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) members were also booked in Faisalabad on Monday for alleged links with Al Qaeda, Online reported.

"Muhammad Shafiq and Abu Hamza have been arrested from a hideout in North Cantt in Lahore," sources told Daily Times.

Jaish Muhammad activist Muhammad Adnan, who was arrested from Jauharabad near Khushab a couple of days ago, pointed out their hideout. Shafiq is said to be Taliban leader Mulla Omar's close aide while Hamza is an Al Qaeda member from Myanmar. "Both of them fled Wana in South Wazirastan Agency after the Pakistan Army launched an-terrorist operation there," sources said.

Investigators believe that both of them had strong links with the people who masterminded the attack on Mr Aziz in Fatehjang in Attock from where he is contesting a by-election to become Pakistan's prime minister. Three cell phones and thousands of US dollars were seized from them.

Meanwhile, the Punjab Elite Force and Faisalabad police arrested Qari Obaidullah Gurmani, Qari Noor Muhammad and Qari Imam Din from Mubarak mosque near Gao Shala Mor in Faisalabad.

Gurmani is the MMA president from Faisalabad, while Noor and Imam Din are prayer leaders of the mosque. MMA supporters protested the arrests and demanded the government provide evidence of their links with Al Qaeda. The police did not comment on the arrests.

Interior Minister Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat told the National Assembly last week that some Al Qaeda members were arrested from MMA offices. The MMA denied any links with the Al Qaeda network.

http://www.ippmedia.com/ipp/mirror/2004/08/17/18635.html

A journey into the home Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani 2004-08-17 07:48:46 By Mwaka Nakasula recently in Zanzibar

About a kilometer north east of the stone town of Zanzibar lies the home in which Tanzania's terror suspect is said to have grown up. Led by a guide, this reporter managed to locate the home at Kikwajuni Gogoni.

We enter the home and are welcomed by a young beautiful lady of Arab African descent who introduces herself as Arafa Khalfan. This reporter observes that the young lady has striking features of the man alleged to have master- minded the August 7, 1998 terror attack in the US embassies of Dar es Salaam and Nairobi.

Later on, I learn that she is the immediate young sister of the alleged terrorist. The living room of this rather humble home is furnished by two lounge suites and a 21-inch colour Tv set. There is no visible evidence of the family leading an outlandish lifestyle except for the fact that they are able to enjoy a few basic necessities of life such as water and electricity.

On the wall of the living room is a picture of Ahmed. It is in black and white and seems not to be a recent photo as the frame has gathered quite a lot of dust. This is a description of the home in which the man alleged to have financed the operation of the Al-Qaeda network with 'Blood Diamonds' is living.

May I kindly talk to your mother? I ask. Yes, most certainly, she tells me. She enters another room and after about five minutes or so I am graced by the sight of a woman who appears to be in her late 40s. She welcomes us in a rather low tone with simply one word 'Karibu'.

From the very onset of my introduction as a journalist from a local media group she appears to very uncomfortable. "I wish the media could just leave me alone. Talking about my son just reminds me of the good days that we shared together. No pen and notebook please" she grumbles. She pauses for a minute or so and in a dramatic turn of events she allows me to take notes of her sons life history.

She reveals to me that she and Ahmed's father never enjoyed a stable marriage and were later to divorce after the brith of their four children, Ahmed being the first. During the years of their separation Ahmed lived with his father until 1998 when his father died. "He later on moved in with me and we stayed together as a happy family toghther with other his half brothers and sisters" until he left for Dar es Salaam.

Describing his personality she had this to say "My son has a very mild tempter, does not drink and smoke and is highly religious. I say so because up till the time he left home he followed all Moslem religious rites such as praying five times a day and fasting. Apart from that he is a man who enjoyed good neighbourly relations and has never been implicated in a crime", she says.

His sister Arafa confirmed his mothers sentiments by adding that, "Never did I ever see Ahmed drink or smoke.In fact he spent most of his time teaching us Mathematics and Science," she said.

Did he have any special friends I asked? "I wouldn't say so because he led a rather reserved kind of life and had no special friend. I never even saw him with a girl friend," recalls Arafa.

What reasons did he give for leaving Zanzibar I ask? "I guess the main reason that led to his depture for Dar es Salaaam was due to the fact that he was unemployed for quite a long time. He told me that while in Dar es Salaam he would be helping out in a business owned by a certain friend of his called Rashidi," said Bi Said.

Uptil this moment none of his family members really know who Rashidi is neither do they know where his shop is located. In 1998 Ahmed was to leave the country for an unknown destination.

"After he left there no communication at all from him and I kept on wondering where he could be. The next thing an told is that he has been arrested in a part of the world I never dreamt he could be." Said Bibi Said.

She recalls to the Mirror what happened on that fateful day. "We learnt of his arrest from certain relatives of ours who live in Dar es Salaam. They got the news from a foreign news channel. That was the most fateful day of my life," she reveals.

She reveals to me that up till now she has not yet gotten over the arrest of her son and that her last wish is to be reunited with him again as soon as possible.

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