Lodi Series, Part I - Why Pakistan?
June 16, 2005 - Lodi, CA - PipeLineNews - Although Osama bin-Laden formed al-Qaeda in 1988 during the Russian occupation of Afghanistan, possibly of more immediate concern with regard to understanding the events as they unfold in Lodi is The International Islamic Front for Holy War Against Jews and Crusaders [IIF] which bin-Laden founded in February of 1998 as a world-wide confederation of terror groups.
The IIF immedately issued the following fatwa against the United States, the now infamous declaration of war:
"The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies, civilians, and the military, is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it, in order to liberate al-Aqsa Mosque and the Holy Mosque from their grip and in order for their armies to move out of all the lands of Islam, defeated, and unable to threaten any Muslim. This is in accordance with the words of Almighty God, and 'fight the pagans all together as they fight you all together,' and 'fight them until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in God."
In Pakistan, five groups have been associated with the IIF:
- The Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami [HUJI]
- The Harkat-ul-Muhahadeen [HUM] formerly the [HAA]
- The Jaish-e-Mohammad [JEM]
- The he Lashkar-e-Toiba [LET]
- The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi [LEJ]
According to Umer Hayat's statement in the initial FBI complaint, the one that seemed to vanish:
"The madrassah was operated by Hamid Hayat's grandfather, and Umer Hayat's father-in-law, Qazi Saeed Ur Rehman. According to Umer Hayat, Qazi Saeed Ur Rehman sends the students from this madrassah to jihadi training camps in Pakistan. After completing his education at the madrassah, Hamid Hayat went to the Tamal training camp near Rawalpindi, Pakistan, which is operated by Maulana Fazlur Rehman. Umer Hayat stated that Maulana Fazlur Rehman is a close personal friend of Saeed Ur Rehman, Umer Hayat's father-in-law."
This means that it was Hamid Hayat's maternal grandfather - Qazi Saeed Ur Rehman - who ran the madrassa [an Islamist religious school].
The statement then describes a process that sees likely prospects from the madrassa then being shuttled to the terror camp, for a little post-graduate work. While the FBI complaint used the word al-Qaeda referring to the camp, we refrain from doing that here because of the nature of the Pakistani Islamist terror network, and the nature of those implicated in Islamic terror in general, who tend not to tell the truth.
More common than merely outright lying, under interrogation these types tend to spin tales woven in and around enough facts to make them believable but ultimately deceptive.
This is a substantial problem for the FBI and Western investigators in general because the culture from which the threat comes is alien, additionally as far as the Federal governement is concerned there are always counterveiling issues - diplomatic - upon which must be carefully trod. That might be the explanation for the hastily pulled first complaint.
Several news sources, including the LA Times, have pointed out that the presence of a true al-Qaeda training camp near Rawalpindi [Tamal it is alleged], Pakistan is unlikely because that city is the headquarters of Pakistan's military and having one of bin-Laden's bases so close would present rather spectacular public relations problems for President Musharaff who is torn between acting like an aly of the United States and remaining alive.
In the court document, the man allegedly running the camp that Hamad Hayat is said to have attended is Maulana Fazlur Rehman. It goes on to describe him as a close personal friend of Hamad's grandfather, but that seems to ignore the fact that both of their last names are Rehman which would indicate that they would have been family, not just good friends and would therefore probably not refer to each other in that manner.
It would be much more likely - if the name of the camp operator is phonetically correct - that the camp operator might be Maulana Fazlur Rahman Khalil.
According to our Asian correspondent, to whom we are deeply indebted for information about the Pakistani terror network:
"Of these, the HUM, which now has an international wing called HUM - Al Alami, is a founding member of the IIF. Its then Amir, Maulana Fazlur Rahman Khalil...was a co-signatory of bin Laden's first fatwa against the US ...HUM is the most virulent anti-US organisation, which has sleeper cells in the black Muslim and Pakistani communities in the US since the early 1990s. It had been calling for attacks on US nationals and interests all over the world even before bin Laden moved to Afghanistan from the Sudan in 1996.The HUM has not only been involved in acts of jihadi terrorism in India 's Jammu & Kashmir, but has also been assisting for many years the jihadi terrorist groups of southern Philippines , particularly the Abu Sayyaf, Myanmar (the Rohingyas), Tajikistan and Chechnya. Its cadres had infiltrated into Iraq before the US-led invasion of that country in 2003." - B. Raman, SAAG
So the thrust of the information found in the first FBI complaint might have been correct - that the Hamat's relative's madrassa indeed did serve as a recruiting school for a more substantial al-Qaeda training effort - though if it was near Rawalpindi it would have had to have been rather limited in size and scope.
On the other hand it might have easily been a camp run by others - possibly even non al-Qaeda - but with the same intent, something not hard to imagine given Pakistan's virulent Islamist environment.
At this point, because the substantial charges which are no-doubt coming against the Hayats have not yet been filed, the above remains speculation, but it is based upon a certain logic that might reasonably explain the presence of Pakistani sleeper cells in a bucolic Northern California community.
Unfortunatley it also underlines the insidious nature of Islamic terror and the great lengths they are willing to go in attacking the heart of Shaitan [Satan], here in America.
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