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| India-Pakistan |
| Western relief agencies fear harassment by jihadis |
| 2005-12-22 |
| Western relief agencies including those run by the United Nations and the United States government are complaining of perceptible harassment by âJihadi elementsâ working in the quake hit-areas where some 20,000 workers belonging to religious NGOs are carrying out relief activities. The relief agencies also fear that if this tension should explode into actual violence against them, they might have to pack up and quit. A statement to this effect was made by the Hansjoerg Strohmeyer, Chief of the Office of the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, UN, at an Asia Society function in New York recently. The UN official expressed concerns over the safety of Western relief workers at the hands of workers from religious organizations in the quake-hit areas, summing up the mood of the Western-relief agencies. Western apprehensions were recently highlighted by the US ambassador to Pakistan, Ryan C. Crocker, when he called upon the government to monitor and if necessary stop some jihadi organizations from continuing with their relief work. This was another manifestation of the disquiet in Western circles. However, sources in the law enforcement agencies say that the army, the biggest relief agency working in the area, has made it absolutely clear to all the religious NGOs that any political attempt to muddy the waters in Azad Kashmir, let alone provoke violence, by the religious groups would lead to a swift reprisals from the state. âAny violence in the relief-areas would be cataclysmic for Pakistan in so many ways and will not be toleratedâ, a senior army officer told Daily Times. âRest assured that none will be allowed to harass any Western relief agencyâ, he added. The religious NGOs working in the area also deny that any friction exists between them and Western relief agencies. Sources in Jamaatul Dawa, the leading Islamic organization working in the area, said that relations between with Western agencies are âvery cordial.â However, sources in the religious groups admit the presence of workers from several banned organizations like Hizbul Mujahideen and others in the area. âThere are many workers from Hizbul Mujahideen and Al Badr working in the area from the platform of other religious relief organizations but as far as Jamaatul Dawa is concerned, we do not have a single worker from banned groups working with us,â said a leader of the Jamaatul Dawa. |
| Posted by:Fred |