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| India-Pakistan |
| Pakistan: Linking of 28 Pakistanis with Al-Qaeda 'mere allegation' |
| 2003-02-02 |
| Pakistan on Friday termed the arrest of 28 Pakistanis on the charges of possessing explosives and classified maps by the Italian authorities as mere allegations. "We have contacted our ambassador (in Italy). We have sought information from him. Our ambassador told us that some Pakistanis had been arrested. Four of them have work permits. Remaining are living legally in Italy and they have applied for work permit," Foreign Office Spokesman Aziz Ahmed Khan told BBC. "Our embassy has approached Italian authorities that Pakistani counselor be allowed to meet them to that may verify the facts and reports, which we believe are absolutely baseless." It's not the denial that makes me suspicious. It's the speed of the denial. "[Police found] 800 grams (28 ounces) of explosives, 230 feet of fuse and various electronic detonators crammed behind a false wall...Islamic religious texts, photos of 'jihad' (holy war) martyrs, piles of false documents..."That sounds remarkably like a cell of Bad Guys — very Bad Guys, in fact. The first words out of the official Pak mouth aren't "We're investigating," but "They're innocent." Kinda makes you wonder if Pak officialdom knew they were there and forgot to tell them that "the Agency will deny any involvement." Will a few hours alone with Big Guido bring to light a few links other than to the NWFP fundos? He maintained: "They (charges) seem baseless, because in the past too such baseless and false claims were about Pakistanis." Aziz said that over six months have elapsed but those Pakistanis are still under detention. So far they have not been allowed to meet any counsel. Besides no legal position has been clarified. It seems to me that these reports too have been floated as a formality. It does not have any relevance to fact," the spokesman added. Seems like they're worried about the last batch, too. Having henchmen stuck for six months with Big Guido could make a criminal mastermind worry, at that... |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |