Posted on 01/07/2006 10:27:07 PM PST by nickcarraway
KARACHI - He was once close to Osama bin Laden, has intimate knowledge of al-Qaeda's logistics and financing and its nexus with the military in Pakistan, yet US intelligence has not been able to get its hands on him.
Ghulam Mustafa, 38, was picked up about 10 days ago in Lahore, and no charges have been brought against him: he is expected to disappear into a "black hole" and quietly be forgotten.
This is because Mustafa, erstwhile head of al-Qaeda's Pakistani operations, has some tales to tell, but the authorities in Pakistan would rather they were not heard, especially by the Americans, even though Islamabad is a signed-up member in the "war on terror".
Mustafa's rise and fall provide a case study of the complexities within Pakistan and of the powerful forces that make the country's intelligence and military such unpredictable allies of the United States.
The making of a jihadi Mustafa comes from the Punjab, where he was once the leader of the Jamaat-i-Islami (Punjab), Pakistan's most prominent Islamic party. In the 1980s, believing that the party's ideology was being diluted by election politics, he went to Afghanistan to join the mujahideen in the fight against the occupying Soviet forces.
His educated background and clarity of thought on ideological matters soon drew him into the camp of the Arab fighters in the country, and it was not long before he entered bin Laden's inner circle.
The year 1989 proved significant on two fronts for Mustafa, also known by his jihadi name of Omar, or Shahjee among friends.
First, when the Soviets withdrew, Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) decided to "win" at least one Afghan city in which it could set up a puppet mujahideen government and get it endorsed by the world community. Jalalabad was selected, and the main commanders of the Afghan resistance, including Arabs, Pakistanis and Afghans, were gathered into an ISI cell to achieve this. Both bin Laden and Mustafa were in the cell.
Also in 1989, the uprising in Kashmir started. The ISI was involved in providing logistical and financial support both to Kashmiris in Indian-administered Kashmir fighting Delhi's writ, and to militants based in Pakistan-administered Kashmir engaged in cross-border activities.
Many of the militants were trained in guerrilla warfare in camps established by the Afghan resistance in and around Jalalabad. Mustafa was assigned by the ISI to oversee these operations, in conjunction with bin Laden, bringing him even closer to the al-Qaeda leader.
Meanwhile, Mustafa had penetrated deeply into the circle of Syed Mubarik Ali Gilani, a revered Sufi and custodian of the Mian Mir shrine in Lahore, from where the ISI runs one of its most effective networks. (Slain US reporter Daniel Pearl made his ill-fated visit to Pakistan to investigate Gilani's network.)
In handling logistical and financial matters for the Kashmiri mujahideen, on behalf of the ISI, Mustafa came into contact with army officers of Corps 10 who were involved in Kashmir operations.
Indeed, he was the point man for contact between bin Laden and the army in arranging for militants to be trained in Afghanistan.
In this way, Mustafa wore two hats, the one as chief coordinator of militant activities in Kashmir, the other as organizer of al-Qaeda's transfer of money and human resources from Pakistan to Afghanistan, and vice versa.
After September 11, 2001, Mustafa was placed in charge of al-Qaeda's Pakistan circle. His basic assignments included coordination between bin Laden and his followers in Pakistan. He took dictates directly from bin Laden and passed them on to al-Qaeda men scattered all over Pakistan. He also remained involved in al-Qaeda's money matters.
However, by this time Pakistan had joined in the "war on terror" and was under pressure from Washington to deliver al-Qaeda members.
On August 11, 2004, Mustafa's brother-in-law Usman was arrested in Islamabad in connection with alleged sabotage activities in the capital. Calls from Usman's phone were traced to Mustafa in Karachi and he was also arrested.
Calls from the minaret At this point two prominent religious personalities enter the story, Ghazi Abdul Rasheed and Maulana Abdul Aziz are the sons of slain religious leader Maulana Abdullah of the Lal Mosque in Islamabad. Abdullah was close to the late dictator, General Zia ul-Haq. His Friday sermons were popular among the military and the civilian bureaucracy, and he often preached the cause of jihad.
His sons have continued his legacy, both his calls for jihad and his mysticism, and were the driving force behind a religious decree insisting that Pakistani army personnel killed while fighting against tribals in South Waziristan be denied a Muslim burial.
They were literally calling for mutiny in the army, which some heeded. However, given the background of the brothers and their clout, the government chose to ignore their defiance.
But after the arrest of Mustafa and Usman, a car was recovered from Usman that was owned by one of the brothers, Rasheed. For President General Pervez Musharraf this was clear proof of a link between the Lal Mosque and al-Qaeda.
Orders of arrest were issued at the highest level, but the brothers succeeded in escaping from their seminary - tipped off by sympathizers in the security forces.
While the brothers were in hiding, the minister of religious affairs and the son of General Zia, Ejaz ul-Haq, met with Musharraf and explained that if the government dared to put a hand on the pair, devastation would result.
Musharraf was convinced, and the brothers returned to Lal Mosque's pulpit after striking a deal with Ejaz.
In the meantime, Mustafa and Usman were still in separate ISI interrogation centers. Detained in a safe house in Karachi, Mustafa spelled out his strong links with bin Laden, army officials and the Kashmiri struggle.
Most likely fearing that Mustafa knew far too much that might implicate Pakistan, the ISI never handed him over to US intelligence. Instead, they put him into the hands of the police, who took him to an anti-terrorism court. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the court found no charges against him and he was released last September.
But by now Mustafa was tainted, and al-Qaeda would have nothing to do with him as he was seen as a marked man.
A new enemy Being a part of the "mainstream" al-Qaeda, Mustafa was single-minded in the belief that jihad should be waged against the US, but not against pro-US Muslim countries.
An al-Qaeda faction in Pakistan led by Sheikh Essa believes that any sympathizers of the US are targets, whether or not they are Muslims.
When Mustafa was first arrested, many of his supporters, bitter that the state had turned against one of its prime assets, joined Essa's camp. These disgruntled al-Qaeda supporters were behind several attempts on Musharraf's life. Other assassination attempts were made by jihadis and army personnel.
And now that Mustafa has been detained again, more people are expected to fall in line with Essa's hardline vision, which includes targeting Musharraf.
At the same time, the authorities are pushing Lal Mosque against the wall. While they are still too scared to arrest the brothers, they have been declared "wanted terrorists" and "criminals".
This is a dangerous move as the deal struck between Ejaz and the firebrand brothers was that in return for their freedom, they would use their influence where possible to rein in those going after Musharraf.
Mustafa might be out of sight, but his detention has stirred an already volatile pot.
Syed Saleem Shahzad is Bureau Chief, Pakistan Asia Times Online. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@yahoo.com.
Pakistan often seems more two faced then Saudi Arabia.
Unpredictable!
Hell, radical Muslims can NEVER become reliable "allies" of America -- or any other non-Muslim nation.
Pakistan is host to a significant percentage of "radical Muslims".....
Semper Fi
if his "disappearing into a black hole" involves assuming room temperature, that would be a good thing ...
One of my best friends lost eye on the Pakistan/Afghanistan border he once told me that he was sure that for 20 or 30 billion we could get Bin Laden by bribing the ISI.
We are giving Pakistan quite a bit of money each year to hunt Bin Laden. Whatever bribe we give them would have to be greater then they expect to get out of us over the next decade from keeping Bin Laden alive.
That is if my friend was right and Pakistani ISI does know where Bin Laden is.
Non-muslims have no truly trustworthy muslim friends in the war against islamic terror and radicalism.
Pakistan isn't worth a bucket of warm spit.
Capturing or killing Bin Laden would be a major event.
But from what I've read of Al Qaeda, the capture or death of Ayman al-Zawahiri would be equally good.
He's the ideological advisor to Bin Laden as well as the mastermind behind many of Al-Qaeda's operations.
A story worthy of Homer (not Simpson), Le Carre' or Shakespeare.
ping
Hint-He is in Iran.
My Gawd man, we need a farm team for our convenience stores!
"Stop Jihad Now!"
I would rather capture Zarqawi right now. He has become the far more powerful then Zawahiri and Bin Laden with an endless supply of suicide bombers and money.
However, he has made al-Qaeda look so bad with his suicide attacks on muslims that maybe its better keeping his around for a while. Who else could have turned Jordan against al-Qaeda. hehehe
Drop his ass in Gitmo and let the waterboarding begin.
L
Extremely doubtful - There isn't the need nor does it make much sense (for either side) for UBL to be in Iran.
UBL is most likely North of Peshawar - In the NW Frontier or maybe in Kashmir (an area that is off limits to outsiders and home to numerous Kashmiri militant groups, some of which are deeply intertwined with al-Qaeda.)
Capturing UBL in the NW Frontier is such an extremely difficult task most just can't comprehend. We are talking roughly 40,000 square miles of the most rugged terrain on earth! - Furthermore the Afghan / Pakistan border stretches 1,500 miles—roughly the distance from Washington, D.C., to Denver (just to get a clue).
Throughout the NW Frontier (and Baluchistan) Pashtun tribes are completely in control. A group of warlords who are autonomous from any centralized Gov't - Pakistan troops (Gov't troops) haven't controlled these areas in about for the last 70 years -
Again the terrain in this region of the world is some of the most brutal on earth -Making any sustained operations a complete nightmare. Not to mention having to conduct any of these operations completely in the "black" (for a variety of reasons). And not just because we don't want other Nations to know....but because our operators stick out like a sore thumb in this part of the World.
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