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| India-Pakistan |
| Madaris raided, record seized: CID-FBI operation in Peshawar |
| 2002-06-22 |
| A CID team accompanied by the FBI agents on Friday raided the offices and religious institutions being run in Peshawar by two Middle East-based relief organizations. CID-FBI personnel raided the Kuwait-funded NGO, Lajnat Al-Dawa Al-Islamiah and the Qatar-based relief organization, Qatar Charity Association, and seized records. An employee of Lajnat Al-Dawa Al-Islamiah said: "The officials inquired about some senior officials of the organization". Most of the staff was not present because of summer vacation, he added. The Qatar Charity Association closed down its offices in Islamabad and Peshawar this week, and abandoned its projects in the refugee camps. Meaning they'd both had been tipped in advance by Mahmud the Weasel, down at the cop shop... Many Arab nationals Peshawar have gone underground following a crackdown the security agencies launched on the relief agencies' offices in Islamabad and other parts of the country. Telephone lines and cell phones of various Arab relief workers in the city have been disconnected and state agencies have been keeping on their movement under observation. A worker attached with one of the Kuwait-based NGOs told Dawn that their Arab colleagues had been in hiding for the last many days. "We don't know the reasons of their absence and are not aware of their whereabouts," he said. The watchmen of the Saudi-based Islamic Relief Agency also confirmed that Arabs had gone into hiding for unknown reasons. We could probably make a pretty good guess what the reasons are, though. Most are probably back in Soddy Arabia by now. Official sources said that two Palestinians, who had been arrested at Tehsil Bara in Khyber Agency on Thursday, were handed over to the Joint Interrogation Team in Peshawar on Friday. The officials said that the Arabs had sneaked into the tribal agency to avoid their arrest. Tough luck for them, huh? NGO workers said that because of the arrests Muslim relief agencies were likely to close down their activities in the Afghan refugee camps and other localities. An official of the Afghan Support Committee (ASC) told Dawn that a meeting of the Middle East-based relief agencies was likely to be held in Saudi Arabia or Kuwait next week to take a decision whether to continue their operation in Pakistan. "Arab NGOs may possibly stop the relief work and close down seminaries and other projects in Pakistan," the official said, adding that it was very difficult to continue service under the circumstances. Can't keep up relief operations if you can't get ammunition and if they keep arresting your best He said the ASC management was yet to learn about the whereabouts of Hussain Khalil, the committee's senior official who was arrested in a crackdown in Peshawar last month. A total of 14 relief workers from different Arab countries were arrested in the crackdown for their suspected links with Al Qaeda. I'm actually surprised. This means the Paks are actually trying to make a break with the Arabs driving the terror machinery. Looks like Perv must have decided if he was gonna have a burger, he might as well get the whole Happy Meal. Cheesing off the Arab money guys probably increases the chance of a coup against him by several hundred percent. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |