 Karachi, 26 Jan. (AKI) - (by Syed Saleem Shahzad) - A former close aide of Osama bin Laden, who was also a former official with Pakistan's powerful secret service Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) during the 1980s, Khalid Khawaja was allegedly picked up by Pakistan's military intelligence early Friday morning, family sources told Adnkronos International (AKI). A retired Pakistan Air Force squadron leader, Khawaja is currently the chief coodinator of the Islamic Centre for Research and Defence of Human Rights, an organisation which campaigns on the behalf of relatives of terrorism suspects who have "disappeared". | I guess "irony" doesn't cover it by half.... |
"He went to say his morning prayers in his (Islamabad) neighbourhood mosque and did not come back," KhawajaÂ’s son Osama Khalid told Adnkronos International (AKI) in a telephone interview. "I spoke to the prayer leader of the mosque but he maintained that Khawaja comes every day to say his prayers but this morning he did not show up," he said.
Khalid Khawaja was a senior official of ISI when it was fuelling jihadi resistance movements against the Soviets in Afghanistan. After being forced to retire from the Pakistan Air Force and the ISI on the instructions of former military dicatator General Zia ul-Haq, he went to Afghanistan and fought alongside with Osama bin Laden.
| Why do I think his "retirement" from the ISI was on paper only? |
His Islamic Center for Research and Defence of Human Rights in Islamabad has reportedly negotiated the release of some 20 suspects. "His disappearance is obviously a result of his role in the release of illegal detainees," said Osama Khalid. "Besides he was active in talks between the people who were protesting against the demolition of mosques and the Islamabad administration. Yesterday talks failed and this morning when my father went out to say his prayers in the nearby mosque, he was presumably picked up by Pakistani intelligence apparatus,” Osama Khalid felt. | "Khalid! Long time, no see. Let's take a ride and talk about old times." |
Even after Khawaja was forced into retirement, he was instrumental in many ISI operations especially those in Kashmir and also in forging national political alliances.
| Like I said, you never "retire" from an intelligence service |
He admitted in many interviews with Adnkronos International (AKI) that he allegedly secured funds from Osama bin Laden and even arranged many meetings between former Pakistani premier Nawaz Sharif and bin Laden in order to build a front against the secular Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) led by another former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
| Ahhhhh, perhaps he talked to one too many reporters |
Khalid KhawajaÂ’s name resurfaced when US reporter Daniel Pearl was abducted and subsequently killed. Pearl had come to Pakistan and met Khalid Khawaja in order to investigate the jihadi network of revered sufi, Syed Mubarak Ali Gailani.
| So, we won't shed a tear over his hopefully painful demise |
Last year in an interview with an American television channel, Pakistani president General Pervez Musharraf made remarks suggesting a possible link between former ISI officials and the Taliban suggesting that they were supporting the Afghan militant group. Khalid Khawaja was also named in the list of such former ISI officials, though Khawaja himslef denied any such involvement and said that he wished he could have supported Taliban.
So, as possibilities we have:
1. Skipped town on his own.
2. Skipped town with ISI help.
3. Picked up by ISI for a "talk"
4. Picked up by Pervez for a "talk" about the ISI
5. Wacked by ISI before he could talk
6. Wacked by parties unknown
7. Flying Space-A on CIA Ghost Jet to island resort |
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