Faisalabad police arrested Riaz Basra. Basra, the bodyguard of Sipah-i-Sahaba founder Haq Nawaz Jhangvi, established a militant group in the name of the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi after the assassination of Nawaz. Lahore police arrested Basra after his conviction of murdering Iranian counsel Aqai Sadiq Ganji, and he was accused in the murder of Tehrik-i-Jaferia leader Syed Sikandar Shah. However, he managed to escape from police in May, 1994. After escape, he reportedly enrolled many hardliners in the Lashkar. Hundreds of rival sect leaders and activists were allegedly gunned down by the group from 1996 to 1998 under his command. Law enforcement agencies said Basra settled in Afghanistan after Pakistan's takeover by the army in 1999 and Lashkar-i-Jhangvi curtailed its activities. However, he returned to Pakistan after the US attack in October.
Sounds like a good candidate for an "unfortunate accident," given the present climate in Pakland. There will be many people who yawn indignantly. "Disappeared, never to be seen again, did he? Terrible. Tsk tsk. More tea, m'dear?"Yo, dude, if we're suggesting that people concerned with habeas corpus are "fifth columnists," and certain other people should meet with "unfortunate accidents," where are we going with this line of thinking? Isn't targeted assassination and disdain for the rule of law how terrorism begins? Are we really ready for a United States where there's a knock on the door from the "authorities" and somebody's never heard from again? (I'd assume someone with opinions as strong as yours has a lot to gain from the rule of law.) The info on your site is great reading, but I'm not into death squads.
Posted by Kristin 1/23/2002 12:29:28 AM Surely you're not confusing Ramsey Clark with someone who actually cares about habeas corpus? Clarks is utterly and consistenly anti-American. His suit is frivolous and the least of his concerns is the poor, beleaguered professional killers at Guantanamo.
An yes, I do think that the occasional "unfortunate accident" here or there in the world can be a good thing, at least for those of us not involved in the "accidents." Once terrorism has begun it has to be fought without mercy. We don't have the "knock on the door" in the US because we're a nation of balanced laws. Too much "law and order" gives a society where the knock can come. Too little - as in vast stretches of Pakistan - gives a society in which a thug can have his own private army and bump off "hundreds of rival sect leaders and activists." If you were an official in the Pak interior ministry and you had this guy, knowing that an open arrest would result in riots, killing and assassinations; and you knew of a stretch of bad road or a helicopter that was on its last legs, and enough friends to lend "plausible deniability," what would you do? Which course would save more lives?
Posted by Fred 1/23/2002 10:03:46 AM |