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Friday,
October 26, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Ultra’s funeral procession turns into anti-US rally Karachi, October 25 Commander Farooq, a Karachi resident in his early 30s and member of the banned militant group Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, was finally buried after the authorities yesterday refused permission for his remains to be repatriated. Farooq’s white coffin, draped in a green and white flag, was carried for some 10 km through Karachi as noisy supporters vowed to avenge his death and chanted “Afghanistan, America’s graveyard”, and “Bush is a dog”. Farooq’s remains were among eight bodies out of some 20 Pakistani militants killed in the Tuesday raid on Kabul, that were smuggled back into Pakistan yesterday. A source close to Harkat-ul-Mujahideen said the bodies were brought in through Mohmand Agency, a tribal area on the border. A Harkat-ul-Mujahideen spokes-man yesterday said the group had the names of 20 of its members killed in the raid, but the final death toll could be as high as 35. Meanwhile, in Islamabad hundreds of pro-Taliban Pakistani Islamic students today warned Pakistan’s President Gen Pervez Musharraf of the prospects of violence if he does not withdraw his support for US-led attacks on Afghanistan. Carrying placards and banners inscribed with slogans like “Yankees: Don’t spread hatred in Muslim world”, “Stop intimidating Muslim world”, “Uncle Sam’s recipe for Afghans: Missiles, bombing and biscuits”, the demonstrators marched along Islamabad’s main thoroughfare. Gen Musharraf’s decision of supporting the USA and its allies against neighbouring Muslim country (Afghanistan) is shameful not only for Pakistanis but Muslims all over the world,” Mohammad Mushtaq, the chief of Jamiat Tolba-e-Islam (JIT), said. At the end of the procession, its participants swore to continue their efforts to defeat Washington and “not to sacrifice their lives and properties for this mission”.
Reuters, DPA |
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Osama-ISI-Taliban clique killed Masood: Khalili New Delhi, October 25 Masood’s adversaries hatched the plot in May during his Europe visit as they found him the most important obstacle in the capture and control of the whole of Afghanistan by the Taliban, which presently controls less than 90 per cent of the total territory. Mr Khalili, who is the only surviving eyewitness to the attack on Masood, in which he himself was seriously wounded, said there were adequate proofs to support his contention that Bin Laden, Taliban the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) were behind the attack on Masood. The Ambassador said the suicide bombers who killed Masood were Moroccans, carrying Belgian passports in fake names had come in the guise of television journalists who wanted to interview the commander. They were allowed inside the Northern Alliance-controlled territory after two weeks’ wait at the border. Significantly, the suicide bombers, who were apparently hiding the bomb inside the video camera, had placed the camera so low “as if to shoot our legs”. Mr Khalili was sitting next to Mr Masood. The blast took place as soon as the “journalists” asked their first question: “What is the situation in Afghanistan?” The blast was so loud and powerful that that it appeared as if some rocket had been fired. One of the assassins was blown into smithereens while another was injured and almost immediately shot by the guards. Talking about the political developments, Mr Khalili outrightly rejected the inclusion of any Taliban element — moderate” or otherwise — in the post-Taliban arrangement in Afghanistan. He also said India had a bigger role to play in the region. On Pakistan’s stiff opposition to the inclusion of Northern Alliance in the post-Taliban government, Mr Khalili remarked: “Just as we do not interfere in government-formation in Pakistan and other countries, we do not accept interference in making of the government in Afghanistan.” Significantly Mr Khalili vociferously dismissed Pakistan military ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf’s plea to the USA to stop its campaign before the onset of Ramazan in the middle of next month. |
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