US on the scent of terror money in
Pakistan By Syed Saleem
Shahzad
KARACHI - Beyond the tragedy of more than
70,000 lives being lost in the October 8 earthquake that
devastated large sections of Pakistan-administered Kashmir,
the disaster alerted US
intelligence to the fact that the financial
conduits that feed militancy and terror remain
very much intact.
At very short
notice, millions of dollars poured into the
coffers of the jihadi group Jamaatut Dawa
(formerly Lashkar-i-Taiba), allowing it to
immediately take over relief operations in Kashmir
while the Pakistan government dallied.
As
a direct consequence of this realization, the US Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA)
once again prevailed on Islamabad to launch an
offensive against al-Qaeda-linked foreign elements
sheltering in the country, notably in the North
and South Waziristan tribal areas on the border
with Afghanistan.
Over the past few years,
invariably under US pressure, Pakistan has
undertaken similar offensives, with varying
degrees of success, beyond whipping up tribal
animosity by sending troops into the
semi-autonomous regions.
In the latest
initiative, according to security contacts who
spoke to Asia Times Online, the US insisted that
Pakistan authorities conduct across-the-board
checks and arrests, while simultaneously US
operatives would go after specific targets in an
effort to search out illicit financial arteries.
One Pakistan move involves Ghazi Abdul
Rasheed and Maulana Abdul Aziz of the famous Lal
Masjid Islamabad. They issued a controversial
religious edict during one of the previous
operations in South Waziristan calling on people
not to pray at the funerals of Pakistan Army
personnel killed in action in the area. The two
religious leaders have had their movements
restricted.
On the US side, they appear to
have scored a hit with the elimination of al-Qaeda
number three, Hamza Rabia, in North Waziristan,
apparently through missiles fired from a CIA
drone. However, the body has not been found and
al-Qaeda has denied that he is dead.
During the latest crackdown, the
activities of the Jamaatut Dawa are also under the
spotlight.
A
high-level Washington-based source told Asia Times
Online: "Like prayers, zakat
[compulsory charity - 2.5% of an
individuals's annual reserves/savings in Sunni Islam and 5%
among Shi'ites] and pilgrimage, jihad is also an integral
part of the Muslim faith, that is why
there is a trend that those Muslim philanthropists
who build mosques, seminaries and donate money to
Islamic relief operators also send money to those
they view as mujahideen. That is
the reason decision-makers in Washington are convinced that
those who contribute money to Islamic groups
in Kashmir are also involved in supporting
the resistance in Iraq and Afghanistan."
The current
operations in Pakistan are being supervised
and controlled by US intelligence. The role of
the Pakistani forces is to do the supporting "donkey work".
A case study Dr Dawood Qasmi, a graduate
of the Dow Medical College in the port city
of Karachi, works at the National Institute of
Child Health in the same city. The US Federal Bureau
of Investigation (FBI) is in hot pursuit of
him.
His father, brother and two
nephews were arrested, and the women of his family
were threatened with arrest if Dawood did not give
himself up. However, a hue and cry raised in the
media forced government agencies to release the
men and lay off the women.
Dawood is a
former commander of the banned Laskhar-i-Taiba in
Sindh province. His role was to recruit civilians
to join the Kashmiri movement. He was closely
associated with the Inter-Services Intelligence
(ISI) Kashmir cell. The ISI provided him with
ample funds to recruit youths, beside giving him
expensive vehicles and armed guards.
Laskhar-i-Taiba was one of the most active
militant groups in Kashmir.
But
post-September 11, 2001, events changed Dawood's life
(Asia Times Online wrote a detailed account of his
life Confessions of a failed
jihadi , although he was not
identified by name in the story).
Disillusioned, he
gave up his activities with Laskhar and returned
to his quiet life in the medical world.
"Dr Dawood Qasmi fully realized it
[operations in Kashmir] was not a jihad but a
Pakistan Army operation for which it was only
using civilians as gun fodder. So he set himself
aside. Initially he was working with an online
medicine research firm and later on he joined the
National Institute of Child Health," said his
daughter, Dr Hania Dawood Qasmi of the Baqai
Medical University in Karachi.
"Three
months ago a colonel approached Dawood and tried
to prepare him to work again for Laskhar, but
Dawood refused. He said to me that he knew that as
he had already been tracked by the FBI, an
association with Laskhar was essential as it was
the only way to get government protection. But he
said that his conscience was not ready for him to
become a Laskhar member again, as it would mean
being an ISI proxy," Hania Dawood maintained.
Dawood was then left alone. But once the
relief operation started in Kashmir, he was
contacted by the Jamaatut Dawa to help as a
doctor. He agreed, and was quickly provided with
huge sums of money to purchase medicine and
surgical equipment to be taken to Kashmir to
establish mobile hospitals, and even an operating
theater.
A week ago, as a result of
the US-inspired campaign to track money sources,
all senior police officials were asked to update
their information on jihadis, especially those active
in their areas. Dawood would probably not have
been targeted, had not his friend from Laskhar
days, Arif Qasmani, been involved.
Arif
Qasmani was a part of a high-level November 14
meeting in Islamabad held to initiate a process
for peace between the Afghan resistance and
coalition forces led by the US. Apparently, Arif
Qasmani spoke about Dawood and his involvement in
the relief operations, and also about how he had
quickly received cash.
Ears obviously
pricked up. Soon after, a joint team of the FBI,
the army and the police raided Dawood's home in
the early hours of the morning, explained Hania
Dawood, but her father was out.
"We were the ones who suffered from the
hands of the police," said Dawood's
75-year-old father, Abdul Rauf. "They handcuffed me, my son
and my grandson. They called us names and forced us
to tell where Dr Dawood was. They threatened us
that if we didn't tell them the whereabouts
of Dr Dawood, they would humiliate all our
family members and detain the women and humiliate them
in front of our eyes. They did not properly feed us.
I was the first person who was released
because my health deteriorated."
Later,
after the media got onto the case, all family
members were released.
Dr Dawood
Qasmi's whereabouts are still unknown.
Syed
Saleem Shahzad, Bureau Chief, Pakistan Asia
Times Online. He can be reached at
saleem_shahzad2002@yahoo.com
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