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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Bin Yousaf aides captured |
| 2005-08-12 |
| Pakistani security agencies have detained two associates of Osama bin Yousaf, a suspected Islamic militant who was arrested last weekend for his alleged links with Al Qaeda, a news report said on Friday. Rana Mohammad Tariq and Mohammad Azam were picked up from the eastern Faisalabad city, the daily Times said, quoting unnamed sources. The report did not say when the two were arrested. Yousaf, an owner of a Public Call Office (PCO) in Faisalabad, was arrested on August 7 and taken to Islamabad for questioning where officials were yet to establish if he had any links with the terrorist network. Intelligence officials also visited a seminary on Sargodha road, the locality from where Yousaf was rounded up, the report said. Yousafâs arrest stirred concern in the Western capitals after media reports said he had maps of Britain, Germany and Italy in his laptop. The chief of the countryâs crisis management cell, Javed Iqbal Cheema, rejected these reports as âtotally rubbishâ, while Information Minister Shaikh Rahisd also described Yousaf as an âinsignificant, low ranking memberâ of an outlawed militant outfit called Lashkare Jhangvi. Yousaf, whose actual name is said to be Faisal, had set up his PCO after apparently renouncing militancy two years ago and also had a computer, which he was using as an internet cafe, according to officials quizzing the suspect. He was arrested after the American Cellular Call Tracking System (CCTS) installed at several locations countrywide traced his phone call to Peshawar. The US Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) has installed the CCTS as part of intelligence sharing efforts in the ongoing war on terror in Afghanistan. They system monitors phone calls within Pakistan. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #1 Yousaf, whose actual name is said to be Faisal, had set up his PCO after apparently renouncing militancy two years ago and also had a computer, Yep. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-08-12 15:18 |