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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Pak helped Taliban prop al-Qaeda: 9/11 panel |
| 2004-06-17 |
| Pakistan benefited from the Taliban-al Qaeda relationship, as Osama bin Laden’s camps trained and equipped fighters for "Pakistan’s ongoing struggle" in Kashmir, a staff report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the US released on Wednesday said. Pakistan, the report from the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States said, did not break with the Taliban until after 9/11, although it was well aware that the Taliban was harbouring bin Laden. "The Taliban’s ability to provide bin Laden a haven in the face of international pressure and UN sanctions was significantly facilitated by Pakistani support," said the report from the panel popularly known as the 9/11 commission. The Taliban faction that seized Kabul was itself supported by Pakistan, the report noted. Even when headquartered in Sudan, said the 12-page report, al-Qaeda had used Pakistan and Afghanistan as regional bases and training centres supporting Islamic insurgencies in Tajikistan, Kashmir and Chechnya. Following the defeat of the Soviets in the late 1980s, bin Laden formed an organization called ’The Foundation’ or al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda was intended to serve as a foundation upon which to build a global Islamic army. By 1992, bin Laden was focused on attacking the United States. "The camps created a climate in which trainees and other personnel were free to think creatively about ways to commit mass murder," it said. According to a senior al-Qaeda associate, various ideas were floated by Mujaheedin in Afghanistan: taking over a launcher and forcing Russian scientists to fire a nuclear missile at the United States; mounting mustard gas or cyanide attacks against Jewish areas in Iran; dispensing poison gas into the air conditioning system of a targeted building; and, last but not least, hijacking an aircraft and crashing it into an airport terminal or nearby city." As time passed and al-Qaeda repeatedly and successfully hit US targets, said the report, bin Laden became a legendary figure among militants both inside and outside Afghanistan. He lectured at the camps. His perceived stature and charisma reinforced the zeal of the trainees. Bin Laden also personally evaluated trainees’ suitability for terrorist operations, the report said. "The camps were able to operate only because of the worldwide network of recruiters, travel facilitators, and document forgers who vetted would-be trainees and helped them get in and out of Pakistan," it stated. "There are strong indications, that elements in both the Pakistani and Iranian governments frequently turned a blind eye to this transit through their respective countries." |
| Posted by:Paul Moloney |