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Leaflets urge war on coalition in Afghanistan
Posters plastered on polls and walls in the area along Afghanistan's border with Pakistan declare that Osama bin Laden is alive and urge the faithful to wage war against the U.S.-led coalition. "I am alive. My friend, Mullah Omar, is alive and it is the duty of all Muslims to wage a war on non-Muslims," the posters read. Sure you're alive. There, there... Impotent, but alive. It was impossible to determine whether the posters were really from bin Laden or from followers using his name to rally Taliban and al-Qaida sympathizers. Posters and handbills calling for jihad against the U.S.-led coalition have appeared intermittently since the collapse of the Taliban last year. What makes these unusual is that they were written in the Pakistani language Urdu. That could well imply they're running out of Afghans willing to put up with this nonsense, and they're trying to fire the Paks, those with short memories who are sprung from jug, to get a little jihad goin'. The fresh call for recruits coincides with a decision by Pakistan to redeploy troops to its tense eastern border with neighbor India, where the world worries about an all-out nuclear war over the disputed territory of Kashmir. The posters, seen on both sides of the border, call bin Laden the "lion of Islam." Other handbills feature a picture of the elusive terror mastermind. On the other side is a drawing of Mullah Omar with one eye blackened. The troops are being thinned. Now's the chance for Fazl to get his own jihad going in NWFP... Also in the drawing is the black and white flag of Pakistan's right-wing Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam (JUI) party, a vocal critic of Pakistan's President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and ideologically akin to the Taliban. Followers of Pakistan's JUI have spearheaded attacks on theaters and music shops in the tribal regions, charging they violated Islam, a belief propagated by the Taliban. JUI is headed by Fazlur Rehman. JUI is a signator of Binny's declaration of Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders, though the Fazlur Rehman who signed it is actually Fazlur Rehman Khalil. Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2002-06-06 |
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