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| India-Pakistan |
| MMA denies al-Qaeda bigs killed in Damadola |
| 2006-01-20 |
| Confusion on Thursday surrounded the identity of three of the four al-Qaeda members named by Pakistanâs intelligence officials as the victims of a CIA-led air strike in a remote region on the Afghan border. An al-Qaeda bomb expert, for whom the US had offered a $5m (â¬4bn, £3bn) bounty for information leading to his capture, and the son-in-law of Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaedaâs second-in-command, were said to be among the four killed. However, analysts queried the information because it did not appear to be derived from physical identification or DNA testing of the bodies. The CIA-led attack last Friday also killed at least 18 civilians, including women and children, provoking an angry reaction from the countryâs Islamic and opposition parties. Pakistanâs intelligence officials on Thursday said one of those killed was Midhat Mursi al-Sayid Umar, also known as Abu Khabab al-Masri. An official identified him as âal-Qaedaâs chief bomb maker, the guy who was the architect of its explosive-making machineryâ. The other two men were identified as Abdul Rehman al-Misri al-Maghribi, son-in-law of Zawahiri who was the target of the attack, and Abu Obaidah al-Misri, al-Qaedaâs chief in Afghanistanâs eastern Kunar province. The fourth victim has not been named, but intelligence officials said he was also an al-Qaeda member. Responding to the reports from Pakistani intelligence, a US official said Washington could not confirm whether the men had been killed in the air attack. The Muttahida Majlis e Amal [MMA], the main alliance of Islamic groups, questioned the accuracy of the information. MMAâs leaders this week led criticism in parliament of General Pervez Musharraf, Pakistanâs president, calling for his resignation over the attack and repeating demands for an end to the countryâs co-operation with the US. So far the allianceâs leaders have been alone in giving an account of the attack, based on information from supporters in the border region. âI can tell you on full authority that neither the Pakistani government nor the US took hold of the bodies. They were taken away for burial by people who came from Afghanistan, nobody knows where they were buried,â said one MMA leader who asked not to be named for fear of being questioned. He said: âIf the Americans or Pakistanis do not have the bodies, how can anyone make accurate claims of their identities?â The Pakistani intelligence official confirmed the identities were made on the basis of intelligence information and not âfacts gathered through DNA tests or any other meansâ. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #1 Typical Muslim lying to cover up a setback for Islam. Or not. Kinda hard to believe anyone who believes in a religion that confers special worldly privileges to believers that are explicitly denied to non-believers. |
| Posted by: Ptah 2006-01-20 08:58 |