Pakistan Nabs Alleged Al Qaeda Member
Local police aided by FBI agents nabbed a man Wednesday believed to be an important member of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, the latest in a government crackdown on Islamic militants that has raised the ire of several Pakistan-based extremist groups.
Abu Abdullah, 35, an Algerian who was in charge of Islamic schools in eastern Afghanistan during the Taliban's tenure, was taken into custody along with another Algerian during a raid in the northwestern city of Peshawar, police said.
President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who threw his support behind the U.S.-led war on terrorism last fall, took a strong line against Islamic extremists in January, banning five of the most violent groups. Two — Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and Jaish-e-Mohammed — operate in the disputed region of Kashmir, the flashpoint of contention between Pakistan and India.
The militants have reacted angrily to Musharraf's crackdown and his vow in a nationally televised speech Monday that "Pakistan will never allow the export of terrorism anywhere in the world."
Worried militant commanders held an emergency meeting Tuesday to discuss what they consider Musharraf's abandonment of their cause.
The militants, fighting to wrest all of predominantly Muslim Kashmir from India, complained they have been prevented from sneaking into Indian-controlled areas.
"We have been stabbed in the back and abandoned by Pakistan in the same way it disassociated itself from the Taliban," Commander Mohammed Musa, spokesman for Jaish-e-Mohammed, told The Associated Press by telephone. "It's a betrayal of millions of Kashmiris and nothing else."
Abu Sayyaf, a spokesman for Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, said his group was "disappointed in what the government has done during the last two weeks."
A Pakistani intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press that a senior Lashkar-e-Tayyaba leader, Riaz Ismail, was arrested in March while sheltering three al Qaeda fighters in the eastern Punjab capital of Lahore. The al Qaeda fighters were turned over to the United States, and Ismail remains in Pakistani custody, he said.
The U.S. military has said they believe most al Qaeda and Taliban are hiding in Pakistan's rugged tribal regions in northwest Pakistan on the border with Afghanistan.
Musharraf has walked a fine line as he tries to appease U.S. demands for a crackdown on the extremist groups, while not angering citizens who have long backed Pakistan's support for an independent Kashmir.
India and Pakistan have moved more than 1 million troops onto either side of the Line of Control that divides the disputed region. Cross-border shelling continued Wednesday between the two nuclear-armed rivals, killing 23 civilians, the nations said.
U.S. government sources say India is moving warplanes to forward operating bases closer to the Kashmir border. This puts Indian planes within easier striking distance of targets in Pakistan.
Pakistan's military spokesman told CBS News Correspondent Bill Whitaker Wednesday that Pakistan will act if provoked.
"If they resort to an offensive action either in the air or by land against Pakistan, Pakistan has the right to defend itself and it will respond," said Maj. Gen. Rashid Quereshi.
Tension has escalated since a December attack on the Indian parliament. India blamed Pakistan-based militant groups and Pakistan's spy agency. Pakistan has denied the charges.
Earlier Wednesday, India's foreign minister said it was "vital for peace" that Pakistan urgently halt cross-border terrorism and rein in Islamic militants in Kashmir.
Jaswant Singh said that Musharraf "has had all the time he wants" to fulfill his pledges to halt terrorism by militants operating from Pakistani soil.
The United States urged both sides to show restraint but called on Pakistan to stop infiltrations across the Line of Control. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage is due to visit the subcontinent next week.
U.S. intelligence has seen no signs either side is moving nuclear weapons. Just the same, the U.S. is making contingency plans to evacuate Americans and citizens of other friendly nations if need be.
India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over the disputed Himalayan province of Kashmir since independence from Britain in 1947. There are fears they may embark on a fourth war if there is no break in the standoff along their border.