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| Afghanistan |
| US army frees Haji Roohullah's brother |
| 2002-10-28 |
| The US military has freed the brother of anti-Taliban commander Haji Roohullah and his seven companions after keeping them in custody for two months at the Bagram airbase north of Kabul. Roohullah, who was a member of the Afghan Loya Jirga from the eastern Kunar province and a supporter of the US and President Hamid Karzai, was arrested due to suspicions about his links with Arab fighters in Afghanistan. Sounds typically Pashtun... His brother Abdul Qayyum and some of his companions and bodyguards were also apprehended. Two of his bodyguards were freed sometime back while Qayyum and seven others were released a few days ago. The freed men have now returned to Kunar. Roohullah belonged to the Jamaat-ud-Da'awa, a party of Ahle Hadith followers, also known as Salfis. The party has pockets of support in Kunar and Nangarhar provinces and had close ties to the Arab fighters and donors during the years of the Afghan "jihad". Roohullah was accused of facilitating the escape of Arabs linked to al-Qaeda from Afghanistan in the wake of the US military operation late last year. I presume this is the same Jamaat ad-Dawa that's active in Pakland, or a branch of it. It's the legit front for Lashkar e-Taiba. The Ahle Hadith is a Salafist movement, one of many subtly-flavored Saudi fronts... |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |