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| India-Pakistan |
| FBI Puts ’Spiders’ To Work In Pakistan |
| 2002-11-27 |
| The FBI has organized some former Pakistani army officers and others into a band known as the "Spider Group" to locate Taliban and al Qaeda fugitives hiding in tribal areas along the Afghanistan border. A federal law-enforcement official in Washington said yesterday that the move marked an attempt by the FBI to develop a "free flow of information" to U.S. agents who previously had worked under some restrictions with Pakistan's official Inter-Services Intelligence agency. Set up their own intel group using the locals. Someone in the FBI found a clue. The ISI had deep and long-standing ties to the Taliban and is believed by many to remain beyond the control of the central government in Islamabad. No kidding. The Spider Group consists largely of retired officers of Pakistan's army, some of whom had reached the rank of brigadier and colonel, say law-enforcement authorities in Washington and sources in Pakistan familiar with the operation. Most of those involved have had a long experience dealing with Afghanistan, going back to the U.S.-backed war against the Soviets in the 1980s and as recently as the period of Taliban rule, from the mid-1990s until last year. Old school military guys, trained in the U.S. back when India and the USSR were seen as the threat. The new group is based in the Pakistani border city of Peshawar, a gateway to Afghanistan. It is charged with tracking the activities and movement of Taliban and al Qaeda outfits that operate in a largely autonomous belt of tribal areas nearby. Initially, the Spider Group was assigned to keep an eye on public gatherings and seminars involving the MMA, especially the leaders of the Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam (JUI) party, which is especially close to Taliban leaders. This is sure to make them unpopular. The FBI fears that the provincial MMA-led government will give the Taliban and al Qaeda the freedom to meet, recruit members and plan attacks against pro-Western targets. The FBI also believes that fugitive Islamists from Afghanistan are hiding in a network of madrassas, or religious schools, that are operated by the JUI. Yup. The Spider Group has also been asked to recruit locals in Pakistan's tribal areas, where hundreds of wanted terrorists are holed up under the patronage of tribal chiefs. Despite a sizable Pakistani army presence in those areas, they are considered havens for Taliban and al Qaeda fugitives. "Terrorists? Nope, none around here." Members of the Spider Group, a mix of Muslim and Christian retired army and intelligence officers, have been trained and equipped by the FBI, and, sources in Pakistan say, all have command of the Pashto language spoken in the region. They have also hired Arabic translators. Now why would they need to speak Arabic? Could it be all those "tourists" from Saudi? Active Pakistani intelligence officials have begun monitoring Spider Group members, and their presence in army receptions and ceremonies has been banned. Pakistani intelligence operatives have also been directed not to have meetings with the group members. They're marked men. The FBI decided to set up the Spider Group after it concluded that "lack of cooperation" from the ISI made it impossible to hunt down Taliban and al Qaeda fugitives in the tribal areas, the sources said. An ISI spokesman would neither confirm nor deny the existence of the Spider Group. "I have heard about it; however, I cannot comment on that without any concrete information," said the spokesman, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. He also denied that the FBI had ever expressed no confidence in information or hints provided by Pakistan's intelligence agency. "Pakistani secret agencies are completely following the government policy vis-a-vis the war against terrorism and the recent arrests of al Qaeda leaders from Pakistan," the spokesman said. If these Spider Group guys can stay alive, they may be our best bet for flushing out a few of the al Qaeda leaders that have gone to ground here. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #6 I've always got a tickle from Arafat's Force 17 - yeah, like from Navarone? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2002-11-27 16:00:36 |
| #5 Spider Group, Spider Group, Friendly neighborhood Spider Group Spins a web, any size, Catch al-Qaida just like flies Look out! Here comes the Spider Group Are they tough? Listen, bud, They're all for spilling Osama's blood. Preadator's overhead-- One mouse click, and he's dead Look out! Here comes the Spider Group |
| Posted by: Mike 2002-11-27 15:37:03 |
| #4 Rantburg Productions presents - "Spider Group vs The Secret Army of Doom" Coming soon to a theater near you. |
| Posted by: Steve 2002-11-27 13:54:48 |
| #3 Sounds positively dignified next to The Secret Army of Doom... |
| Posted by: Fred 2002-11-27 13:04:45 |
| #2 That sounds like a good idea,but they need a less ridiculous name than "Spider Group".This one sounds like it comes from "Batman",and I mean the TV-series,not the movies. |
| Posted by: El Id 2002-11-27 12:18:55 |
| #1 "Gosh, Mahbub Ali! This game is really great!" |
| Posted by: Fred 2002-11-27 11:25:47 |