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Pakistan Government Funds Kidnapping & Murder Of Britons & Americans
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nkdat...@my-dejanews.com
May 30, 1999, 3:00:00 AM5/30/99
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DAWN, Karachi, Pakistan
17 May 1999 Monday 01 Safar 1420
ISI provides funds to radical terrorists, says report
By Our Staff Correspondent
LONDON, May 16: Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has been
accused of providing arms and money to radical terrorists linked to a
group dedicated to kidnapping and killing Britons and Americans, The
Sunday Telegraph said.
The newspaper said that the Scotland Yard have been provided
information by former members of the Pakistan's intelligence services,
now living in Britain, that the terrorists who operate under the
umbrella of Harkat-ul-Ansar, are provided "training, expertise and
funding" by the ISI.
It said that the Harkat-ul-Ansar (HUA) people were closely associated
with Osama bin Laden, the dissident Saudi millionaire accused of
masterminding attacks on two US embassies in Africa in August last.
"They (Harkat-ul-Ansar people) are assisted by Pakistan's military
intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI).
This provides training, expertise and funding, although much of the
HUA's money comes through donations from sympathisers in Islamic
countries and from the wealthy bin Laden," the newspaper said.
The paper claimed that Al-Faran group in occupied Kashmir, which
kidnapped five Western trekkers in the Valley in 1995, was also a
splinter group of Harkat-ul-Ansar.
One of the five, Hans Ostro, a Norwegian, was later found beheaded. The
others included two Britons, Paul Wells, 23, a Nottingham University
student from Blackburn, and Keith Mangan, 34, a Middlesbrough man who
lived in London. They all remain missing, presumed dead.
The paper quoted Foreign Office sources as saying that Al Faran still
has the mission to kidnap and kill British and US citizens.
"Fundamentalists are believed to have infiltrated Pakistan's ISI, which
has long been considered out of control by diplomats and government
officials," the paper said. "The agency was shaped into a sophisticated
intelligence service by the CIA during the Afghan-Soviet war, when
agents channelled arms and aid to the Mujahideen. Despite repeated
official denials in Islamabad, diplomatic sources say the ISI continues
to support the HUA, with which it shares a common goal -- Pakistan's
complete control of Kashmir," The Sunday Telegraph said.
The paper said that in recent years, the HUA has expanded beyond its
remit in Kashmir, and is now believed to pose a serious threat to the
security of both Pakistan and the wider south Asian region.
"Declared a terrorist group by the US State Department in 1997, the HUA
comprises two militias, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and the more extreme
Harkat-ul-Jihad. They were formed in the Eighties - with CIA and ISI
backing - to fight the Russians in Afghanistan. Both factions maintain
headquarters in Muzaffarabad and Kotli, from where they have dispatched
militants to wage a guerilla war against Indian security forces in
Jammu and Kashmir," the paper claimed.
"The two Harkat militias provide shelter, food and clothing for the
trainees, while the ISI provides weapons, ammunition and transport,
along with specialist instructors," the paper claimed. "The HUA also
has training camps in eastern Afghanistan, mainly in Nangarhar
province. Its militias formerly used bin Laden's Afghan training camp
near Khost which was blasted by US cruise missiles after last year's
embassy bombings."
The newspaper quoted a recent interview of Fazal-ur Rehman Khan, the
leader of Harakat-ul-Mujahideen, in which he had said that: "For each
of us killed or wounded in the US attack, at least 100 Americans will
be killed."
It said that though later Fazalur Rehman Khan denied making these
remarks but quoted a US embassy official in Islamabad as saying that
HUA threats had been received and these have not been withdrawn.
It quoted Shahad Qasmi, a spokesman for Pakistan's government, as
strongly denying that the ISI was connected to the HUA. "These
allegations are incorrect and baseless," Mr Qasmi has been quoted by
the paper. However, the administration is believed to be considering
bringing the agency under more civilian control. "The ISI is under
review," said a senior Pakistani military officer. "It is trying to
convince the civilians in government that the agency is under control,
and that it is not pursuing its own agenda."
The paper said that the new disclosures would likely embarrass
Islamabad at a time when it was trying to strengthen diplomatic ties
with India and to assuage US fears over Pakistani involvement in
harbouring radical terrorists.
17 May 1999 Monday 01 Safar 1420
ISI provides funds to radical terrorists, says report
By Our Staff Correspondent
LONDON, May 16: Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has been
accused of providing arms and money to radical terrorists linked to a
group dedicated to kidnapping and killing Britons and Americans, The
Sunday Telegraph said.
The newspaper said that the Scotland Yard have been provided
information by former members of the Pakistan's intelligence services,
now living in Britain, that the terrorists who operate under the
umbrella of Harkat-ul-Ansar, are provided "training, expertise and
funding" by the ISI.
It said that the Harkat-ul-Ansar (HUA) people were closely associated
with Osama bin Laden, the dissident Saudi millionaire accused of
masterminding attacks on two US embassies in Africa in August last.
"They (Harkat-ul-Ansar people) are assisted by Pakistan's military
intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI).
This provides training, expertise and funding, although much of the
HUA's money comes through donations from sympathisers in Islamic
countries and from the wealthy bin Laden," the newspaper said.
The paper claimed that Al-Faran group in occupied Kashmir, which
kidnapped five Western trekkers in the Valley in 1995, was also a
splinter group of Harkat-ul-Ansar.
One of the five, Hans Ostro, a Norwegian, was later found beheaded. The
others included two Britons, Paul Wells, 23, a Nottingham University
student from Blackburn, and Keith Mangan, 34, a Middlesbrough man who
lived in London. They all remain missing, presumed dead.
The paper quoted Foreign Office sources as saying that Al Faran still
has the mission to kidnap and kill British and US citizens.
"Fundamentalists are believed to have infiltrated Pakistan's ISI, which
has long been considered out of control by diplomats and government
officials," the paper said. "The agency was shaped into a sophisticated
intelligence service by the CIA during the Afghan-Soviet war, when
agents channelled arms and aid to the Mujahideen. Despite repeated
official denials in Islamabad, diplomatic sources say the ISI continues
to support the HUA, with which it shares a common goal -- Pakistan's
complete control of Kashmir," The Sunday Telegraph said.
The paper said that in recent years, the HUA has expanded beyond its
remit in Kashmir, and is now believed to pose a serious threat to the
security of both Pakistan and the wider south Asian region.
"Declared a terrorist group by the US State Department in 1997, the HUA
comprises two militias, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and the more extreme
Harkat-ul-Jihad. They were formed in the Eighties - with CIA and ISI
backing - to fight the Russians in Afghanistan. Both factions maintain
headquarters in Muzaffarabad and Kotli, from where they have dispatched
militants to wage a guerilla war against Indian security forces in
Jammu and Kashmir," the paper claimed.
"The two Harkat militias provide shelter, food and clothing for the
trainees, while the ISI provides weapons, ammunition and transport,
along with specialist instructors," the paper claimed. "The HUA also
has training camps in eastern Afghanistan, mainly in Nangarhar
province. Its militias formerly used bin Laden's Afghan training camp
near Khost which was blasted by US cruise missiles after last year's
embassy bombings."
The newspaper quoted a recent interview of Fazal-ur Rehman Khan, the
leader of Harakat-ul-Mujahideen, in which he had said that: "For each
of us killed or wounded in the US attack, at least 100 Americans will
be killed."
It said that though later Fazalur Rehman Khan denied making these
remarks but quoted a US embassy official in Islamabad as saying that
HUA threats had been received and these have not been withdrawn.
It quoted Shahad Qasmi, a spokesman for Pakistan's government, as
strongly denying that the ISI was connected to the HUA. "These
allegations are incorrect and baseless," Mr Qasmi has been quoted by
the paper. However, the administration is believed to be considering
bringing the agency under more civilian control. "The ISI is under
review," said a senior Pakistani military officer. "It is trying to
convince the civilians in government that the agency is under control,
and that it is not pursuing its own agenda."
The paper said that the new disclosures would likely embarrass
Islamabad at a time when it was trying to strengthen diplomatic ties
with India and to assuage US fears over Pakistani involvement in
harbouring radical terrorists.
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