DOCUMENTS RECOVERED FROM THE Libyan national Abdul Rehman, who was shot dead by anti-terrorism force in heavily populated Hayatabad neighbourhood on the outskirts of Peshawar during an encounter on August 14, have provided âvital leadsâ to his other Al Qaeda associates, highly placed intelligence sources told TFT. âThe documents leave little doubt that Rehman was an Al Qaeda member,â said an intelligence official, adding: âHe was a highly trained man and served as a communications official among Al Qaeda members.â The documents included his Afghan passport and an ID card showing him to be an Afghan refugee. But the real breakthrough for the investigating officers â which they believe would be very useful in unearthing other Al Qaeda cells in Pakistan â are a âtelephone directoryâ and âa list showing who was provided how much moneyâ in dollars.
| Those would both be very handy things, especially if somebody acts on the data right away, rather than letting it stale out. Sometimes the Paks do, if it doesn't impinge on some other obscure thing ISI has going, like subverting Afganistan or engineering a nuclear confrontation with India... |
Officials are keeping the contents of the list secret for fear that it would compromise the entire operation but say they have got some very solid information on Rehmanâs other contacts in the country. âDisclosing their names will jeopardise our plans to catch them,â an investigative officer said. Rehman spoke Pushto fluently. He had come to Pakistan during the Afghan jihad and fought the Red Army along with the Mujahideen. He also had an MA. in Islamic studies from the Islamic University in Islamabad.
| Whooo-wee! Them's impressive credentials! That and $24.95 will get you a green silk turban... And just as a technical note, the "Red Army" went away after WWII, when it became the Soviet Army. |
Meanwhile, a row has erupted between the JI and Jamiat-Ulema-Islam, the other major party in the MMA, over who had authorised the raid on the alleged Al Qaeda suspectâs home. The JI has accused the JUI/MMA government in the NWFP of getting Rehman killed. The JI has also offered financial and legal support to Rehmanâs widow. TFT sources say the federal government took the MMA chief minister, Akram Khan Durrani, into confidence before the raid. The inspector-general police Riffat Pasha gave the âgo-aheadâ to the CID after the federal government had coordinated with Peshawar.
| So Qazi's boyz didn't get advance notice to either quash the raid or give the guy advance warning. Bet that cheezed him... |
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