<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" version="2.0"><channel>
                        <title>The Express Tribune</title>
                        <atom:link href="https://tribune.com.pk/feed/colonelimam" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/>
                        <link>https://tribune.com.pk/feed/colonelimam</link>
                        <description>The Express Tribune keeps you up to date with all the latest happenings from Pakistan and across the world!</description>
                        <lastBuildDate>Tue, 09 Jun 26 15:59:22 +0500</lastBuildDate>
                        <language>en-US</language>
                        <sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
                        <sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
                        <generator>https://laravel.com/</generator><item>
			<title>Taliban video solves two mysteries</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/121193/taliban-video-solves-two-mysteries</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/121193/taliban-video-solves-two-mysteries#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 20 Feb 11 04:24:01 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[qaiser.butt]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=121193</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[A video released by TTP seems to have put to rest debates about the fate of two men: Hakeemullah and Col Imam.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[A video released by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) seems to have put to rest debates about the fate of two men: One, the chief of the outlawed outfit, and two, of a former official of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

US officials had claimed in January last year that the young TTP chief, Hakeemullah Mehsud, was killed along with 10 other militants in a drone attack in the North Waziristan tribal region.

Though the TTP were quick to rubbish the reports, the Western media insisted that Hakeemullah was dead. There was no official confirmation of his death, however.

Hakeemullah Mehsud had taken over the dreaded TTP following the death of his cousin Baitullah Mehsud in a US missile strike in South Waziristan in August 2009. Hakeemullah went into hiding following reports of his death, providing grist for the rumour mills.

However, the mystery was solved on Saturday when the Taliban released a video showing the execution of former ISI official Sultan Amir Tarar, commonly known as ‘Colonel Imam’.

Clips from the undated video aired by Pakistani television channels show Hakeemullah, flanked by two armed men, standing behind Col Imam as he sat on the ground.

“Col Imam is no more in this world,” TTP spokesperson Ahsanullah Ahsan, said in a message in the video, which apparently shows his execution.

In the video, Hakeemullah said that all those collaborating with the Americans against Muslims would be killed. He said that the Taliban would continue their ‘jihad’ to defeat the Americans and their allies in Afghanistan.

Col Imam, along with another former ISI official, Squadron Leader (retd) Khawaja Khalid, and British journalist Asad Qureshi, was seized by a hitherto unknown TTP-linked group – the Asian Tigers – while travelling in North Waziristan on March 26, 2010.

Qureshi was released in September after paying a ransom of Rs20 million, while Khawaja was executed by his captors.

Last month, there were reports that the captors had executed Col Imam after authorities turned down their demands. However, officials and family did not confirm the death.

Again the TTP had claimed on Sunday last that Col Imam had died of cardiac arrest in captivity and made a pledge to release a video to prove their claim.

But Imam’s family rejected the claim, saying that they were negotiating with the captors to secure his release. The captors were reportedly demanding Rs50 million besides the release of some of their associates currently in the custody of Pakistani security forces.

Interestingly, former ISI chief Lt-Gen Hameed Gul is reluctant to trust the video. “It appears to be a drama,” he told The Express Tribune. He said he has spoken to Major Nauman, son of Col Imam, and told him not to offer Fateha for his father unless the execution is confirmed by independent sources.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 20th, 2011.]]>
			</content:encoded>
			<image>
				    <img src="https://i.tribune.com.pk/media/images/Hakeemullah-PHoto-File/Hakeemullah-PHoto-File.jpg" class="featured_image"/>
            </image>
			</item><item>
			<title>Taliban release video of killing of Col Imam</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/121012/taliban-release-video-of-killing-of-col-imam</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/121012/taliban-release-video-of-killing-of-col-imam#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 19 Feb 11 16:21:25 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=121012</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan release video footage showing former ISI officer Sultan Amir Tarar.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Saturday released a video allegedly showing the killing of former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) officer Colonel Imam.

Sultan Amir Tarar, better known as Col Imam, was reportedly killed last month by the Taliban.

The video footage released today shows Colonel Imam on the ground with three Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) members, including the group’s chief Hakimullah Mehsud, standing behind him.

Earlier, TTP spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan was quoted as saying that a video showing Col Imam would be released later in the day.

“The video will show Taliban fighters firing at Colonel Imam... Colonel Imam is no more in this world,” Ahsan said.

A little-known militant faction called the Asian Tigers in North Waziristan had earlier claimed they had killed the former ISI official but conflicting reports this week said that he may still be alive and in captivity.

The abductors had reportedly demanded Rs50 million and the release of some jailed militants for Colonel Imam’s freedom.

Col Imam was widely respected by the Afghan Taliban for his role in the Afghan Jihad against Soviet forces during the 1979-89 war.

He described himself as the “teacher” of Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Omar in several interviews.

He also served as Pakistan’s consul general in the western Afghan city of Herat after the installation of a Taliban government in Kabul.]]>
			</content:encoded>
			<image>
				    <img src="https://i.tribune.com.pk/media/images/Col-Imam11111/Col-Imam11111.jpg" class="featured_image"/>
            </image>
			</item><item>
			<title>‘Colonel Imam had ties with Osama, Mullah Omar’</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/110841/clandestine-operation-%e2%80%98colonel-imam-had-ties-with-osama-mullah-omar%e2%80%99</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/110841/clandestine-operation-%e2%80%98colonel-imam-had-ties-with-osama-mullah-omar%e2%80%99#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 29 Jan 11 05:04:15 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[qaiser.butt]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[K-P]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=110841</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Close friend says his relati­ons streng­thened when Arab milita­nts arrive­d in Pakist­an.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Inter-Services Intelligence’s (ISI) former operator Colonel Imam, who was allegedly assassinated on Sunday, had had ties with al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and other high-profile Arab militants, The Express Tribune has learnt.

A close friend of retired army officer Sultan Amir Tarar, designated as Colonel Imam by the ISI, said on condition of anonymity that Imam had established close ties with Arab militants who had arrived in Pakistan to join the Afghan Mujahideen in the fight against the Red Army in Afghanistan. “Osama was also among those Arab militants that the ISI assisted in their Jihad against Soviet troops,” he said.

Imam and Taliban chief Mullah Omar’s relations go back to 1994 when Imam was abducted while accompanying a 30-truck convoy of goods to Turkmenistan through Kandahar. “Omar and other top leaders developed an intimate relationship with Col Imam when Imam was arrested by Afghan warlord Amir Lalai in Kandahar on November 2, 1994. Omar and his fighters rescued Imam and Lalai was publicly executed by hanging,” the friend said.

The story of that convoy is now a critical part of the history surrounding the Taliban’s origins. Their advance from Spin Boldak to Takht-e-Pul outside Kandahar, where Lalai had halted the Pakistani convoy, its subsequent release by the Taliban, and the Taliban’s capture of Kandahar were to change the political map of Afghanistan.

The fact that the Taliban would not just free the convoy but also capture Kandahar within 24 hours was beyond any Pakistani or even Afghan expectation. Subsequently, Taliban leaders expressed surprise at their own initial success, which was achieved with so little bloodshed.

However, the fall of Kandahar to the Taliban and the subsequent fall of Kabul to Omar’s followers were attributed to the planning of Col Imam. This victory played a key role in bringing Col Imam so close to Omar that ISI’s establishment appointed Imam as the consul-general to Herat, Afghanistan. Later, Imam also served as a diplomat at Mazar-i-Sharif.

Although Imam’s execution is yet to be confirmed, his family believes that indifference on part of the government and the army had caused his death. A source close to Imam’s family said that they are already disappointed by the army and the ISI’s senior officials. Other sources close to the family say they were informed about Imam’s killing by intelligence sources. Meanwhile, no member of the Pakistani Taliban in North Waziristan has so far claimed responsibility for Imam’s assassination but the family suspects that the Punjabi Taliban are involved.

According to circumstantial evidence, the militants who attacked the army’s General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi in October 2009 were involved in Imam’s abduction. This notion is further substantiated by the fact that the GHQ attackers were among the 162 militants whose release the captors demanded in exchange for Imam. Those Taliban who were said to have been taken to the notorious Guantanamo Bay prison were also included in the list.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 29th,  2011.]]>
			</content:encoded>
			<image>
				    <img src="https://i.tribune.com.pk/media/images/Col-Imam1111/Col-Imam1111.jpg" class="featured_image"/>
            </image>
			</item><item>
			<title>The death of Colonel Imam</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/109037/the-death-of-colonel-imam-3</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/109037/the-death-of-colonel-imam-3#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 26 Jan 11 05:22:59 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[asad.munir]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=109037</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Considering his support for the Taliban, what may have been the reasons for Col Imam's treatment and eventual death?]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[There are conflicting reports about the cause of death of Colonel Imam, about the place where he died, the groups responsible for his death and even the very manner of his death. A well-known former ISI officer, he was a strong supporter of the cause of the Taliban, idolised their six-year rule and felt proud of his contributions in shaping and organising the Taliban as a force. He openly criticised US intervention in Afghanistan and believed that withdrawal of foreign forces would guarantee peace in both Pakistan and Afghanistan. Except for some adverse remarks against the local Taliban, he praised and supported jihadi activities. A man with such a background and credentials should not have been kidnapped and kept captive for almost a year by the forces he supported. What may have been the possible reasons for his treatment and eventual death?

Both parties, the group responsible for his kidnapping as well as the colonel, clearly miscalculated and misread the situation. Colonel Imam most likely overrated his standing among the militants. Since he had been supporting the cause of the Taliban and was always critical of the US, he was confident that extremists, operating in Tribal areas, would welcome him warmly. He was familiar with some areas in Afghanistan, but knew little about the dynamics of Fata, particularly the security environment that emerged post-9/11.

The kidnappers, most probably from a splinter group of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, misjudged the importance of the colonel. They may have heard stories about him, some true, some based on half-truths and most on glorification and fiction. They must have believed the stories run by the western media about retired ISI officers supporting al Qaeda and the Taliban. The demands his captors made for the release of people arrested for attacks on military installations after his capture would suggest that they believed he still worked for the army/ISI and that these institutions would have accepted such demands for his release.

The release of some terrorists by the army, in exchange for soldiers in the custody of Baitullah Mehsud, was also a precedent known to his abductors. However, like most Pakistanis, they were probably not aware that unless a retired officer is formally re-employed, no agency would task him to undertake any assignment.

Another important aspect highlighted by this incident is that there is no central authority of the terrorists operating in Fata. The likely scenario is that there are different cells, with probably variant goals and objectives, operating there and not interfering in each other’s affairs. Had there been a central authority, it could have exercised influence on the culprits to get the colonel released. The other possibility is that the colonel’s relationship with the Afghan Taliban leadership was perhaps not as close as he had claimed it to be.

Question marks on the Haqqani network’s control over North Waziristan also arise. It is likely that Jalaluddin Haqqani would have made all possible efforts for the colonel’s release, given Imam’s involvement in the Afghan jihad, of which Haqqani was a major player. The fact that he died in captivity, indicates that either Haqqani did not make any serious efforts for his release or he is not in a position to dictate terms to other groups operating in the area. The other possibility is that the release of terrorists involved in attacks on the GHQ and the Parade Lane mosque were considered more important than the life of Colonel Imam.

One may not agree with the vision and conviction of Colonel Imam, but the fact is that he was fully committed and dedicated to the cause which, in his opinion, was good for this country. May his soul rest in peace.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 26th, 2011.]]>
			</content:encoded>
			<image>
				    <img src="https://i.tribune.com.pk/media/images/Asad-Munir1111111111/Asad-Munir1111111111.jpg" class="featured_image"/>
            </image>
			</item><item>
			<title>Another epitaph for ‘strategic depth’</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/108487/another-epitaph-for-%e2%80%98strategic-depth%e2%80%99</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/108487/another-epitaph-for-%e2%80%98strategic-depth%e2%80%99#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 24 Jan 11 18:36:08 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Editorial]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=108487</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The death in custody of retired ISI officer Col Imam points to the blunder of ‘strategic depth’ as national...]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The death in custody of retired ISI officer Colonel Amir Sultan, alias Col Imam, who had been abducted by the Taliban early last year, points, once again, to the blunder of ‘strategic depth’ as national policy towards neighbouring Afghanistan. Some reports have ‘Taliban sources’ saying that he died of a heart attack, but his mentor General (retd) Hamid Gul says Col Imam was never a heart patient and that he had been killed by Indian agents and American private security firm Blackwater. Col Imam was kidnapped along with another former ISI officer, Khalid Khwaja, in March 2010. His captors demanded ransom and the release of Taliban prisoners by Pakistan. Mr Khwaja was shot by the allegedly Punjabi Taliban, on a purported phone call from Islamabad, where the caller accused him of being a CIA agent.

Col Imam was an icon of Pakistan’s Afghan policy after 1996, which ousted the Indian embassy from Kabul and facilitated the inauguration of the ‘Islamic’ government of Taliban, one of the cruellest in human history. Islamabad recognised the Taliban government in a manner typical of the Kargil Operation in 1999. The then prime minister Nawaz Sharif didn’t know who had okayed the recognition, because he hadn’t. Foreign Minister Gohar Ayub followed orders that came from a source other than the prime minister; but that was, more or less, routine in Pakistan by then.

Trained by Col Imam in camps that also trained terrorists for infiltration into India, the Taliban did something in Mazar-i-Sharif that began the regional isolation of Pakistan in pursuit of the policy of ‘strategic depth’. They finally got hold of Mazar-i-Sharif in 1998 and this came at the cost of a massacre in which hundreds of locals were killed, including Iranian diplomats, in the city’s consulate at the hands of men sent in from Pakistan. The good colonel claimed the Taliban who invaded Mazar-i-Sharif were unarmed and were mostly traders! He also put the blame on Iran for asking the Hazara Shias to resist and start the massacre.

The American-trained Colonel Imam was a commando officer who trained the mujahideen in camps run by Pakistan and the US. He was sent into Kandahar in 1994 to keep the Taliban going in the right direction but he soon moved to the more ‘strategic’ location of Herat, where he was given the dubious title of ‘king of Herat’. Today, India has a presence in Afghanistan with the help of the international community to prevent Pakistan from repeating 1996; and Iran is aggressively pressuring Herat through infiltration to forestall another Pakistani attempt at checkmating its neighbourly interests in Afghanistan. The Mazar tragedy of 1998 had brought the Taliban and Iranian troops eyeball-to-eyeball on the border, with Iran blaming Pakistan for the confrontation.

The Punjabi Taliban — a group of fighters from Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Harkatul Jihad al Islami, Harkatul Mujahideen, and various other jihadist groups — are all the product of the Pakistani state, which is proved by the statement given out by Khalid Khwaja and Col Imam saying that they were going to the Taliban territory in North Waziristan on advice from ex-army chief Mirza Aslam Beg and ex-ISI chief Lt-Gen (retd) Hameed Gul. The Punjabi Taliban wanted their men held by the ISI released, and finally killed the two ISI hostages when this was not done.

The Taliban have denied that they had anything to do with the killings, but the truth is that when post-kidnap demands were communicated, they contained one from the Afghan Taliban too, asking for the release of an Afghan Taliban leader captured outside Karachi. What is most significant is the fact that the Taliban and al Qaeda care little for Pakistan’s official policy of ousting India and targeting the Americans in Afghanistan. What they have in their cross hairs is Pakistan itself, and they see the Pakistan Army and the ISI as a hindrance in the realisation of this objective. Pakistan needs to change its Taliban-linked policy in the region in order to stave off the internal crisis generated by its totally misguided ‘strategy of depth’ against India. This would be completely in line with furthering our national and security interest.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 25th, 2011.]]>
			</content:encoded>
			<image>
				    <img src="https://i.tribune.com.pk/media/images/Col-Imam111/Col-Imam111.jpg" class="featured_image"/>
            </image>
			</item><item>
			<title>Col Imam executed?</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/107891/body-of-former-isi-official-found-in-north-waziristan</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/107891/body-of-former-isi-official-found-in-north-waziristan#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 24 Jan 11 02:10:01 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[qaiser.butt]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[K-P]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=107891</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Officials refuse to confirm or deny the slaying of former ISI official.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[A former officer of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Sultan Amir Tarar, better known as Colonel Imam, has reportedly been killed by the Taliban on Sunday.

Though there is no official confirmation of his death, sources close to his family say they were informed about Col Imam’s killing by intelligence sources.

Col Imam, along with another former ISI official Squadron Leader (retd) Khawaja Khalid and British journalist Asad Qureshi, was seized by a lesser known Taliban group, Asian Tigers, while travelling to the North Waziristan tribal region on March 26, 2010.

Qureshi was released in September after paying a ransom of Rs20 million, while Khawaja was executed by his captors.

Gen (retd) Hameed Gul, a former ISI chief and a colleague of Col Imam, told the media that the kidnappers wanted to swap the two former spies with the terrorists who were arrested in connection with two high-profile terrorist hits in Rawalpindi.

Gul said the US and its private security firm Blackwater Xe could be involved in Col Imam’s abduction. However, he voiced doubt over the news of his killing. “I think it is a drama. The situation will become clear in the next couple of days,” he added.

Col Imam was reportedly killed by his captors and the body was dumped in the Dandi Darpakhel area, close to Miramshah, the headquarters of North Waziristan Agency.

Nonetheless, local residents said they have not seen the body.

A senior security official in Peshawar also refused to confirm the slaying. “We also have reports of his death, but we cannot confirm it,” the official told The Express Tribune.

Another Peshawar-based intelligence official also refused to confirm the report.  “The Dandi Darpakhel area is adjacent to government quarters in the region dotted with security checkpoints. If there was any such thing, it would have been in our knowledge,” he added.

However, a relative of Col Imam told the media that intelligence sources had informed them about the incident.

Col Imam and Khawaja said in a video message released by the Taliban a month after their abduction that they were sent to Afghanistan by former army chief Gen (retd) Mirza Aslam Beg and former ISI chief Gen (retd) Hameed Gul.

The abductors had initially demanded the release of two arrested Taliban leaders – Mullah Kabir and Mullah Mansoor Dadullah – in exchange for the freedom of the two former ISI officials. The demand was made in an email sent to several Pakistani media outlets.

But later they added more demands and called for the release of those terrorists who were in custody of Pakistan’s security agencies in connection with attacks on the GHQ and Parade Line Mosque of Rawalpindi.

According to reports, Mullah Omar, the reclusive Taliban mentor, himself had campaigned for the release of Col Imam. It was due to Mullah Omar’s intervention that the Taliban did not kill Col Imam for several months, a source close to the Taliban told The Express Tribune.

The source also claimed that Col Imam had brokered a peace deal between the military and the Haqqani network chief Jalaluddin Haqqani, much before his arrest.

Col Imam had played a key role in training the Afghan Mujahideen during the Afghan jihad. He was in charge of the Mujahideen activities in different parts of Afghanistan. He maintained close ties with Mullah Omar and other Taliban leaders in Afghanistan and Waziristan.

“Mullah Omar and the Taliban are highly respected Muslim leaders,” Imam had said in an interview to a television channel, last year.

During his captivity, Col Imam had written several letters to Gen (retd) Mirza Aslam Beg and Lt-Gen Hameed Gul and some politicians to plead for his release.

Col Imam was a bitter critic of the United States which, he said, had left the Afghan mujahideen in the lurch after the defeat of the Soviet forces in the late 1980s.

A special warfare operation specialist, Col Imam had also once served as Pakistan’s consul general at Herat, in Afghanistan.

With additional reporting by Manzoor Ali in Peshawar

 Published in The Express Tribune, January 24th,  2011.]]>
			</content:encoded>
			<image>
				    <img src="https://i.tribune.com.pk/media/images/Col-Imam11/Col-Imam11.jpg" class="featured_image"/>
            </image>
			</item><item>
			<title>UK journalist freed after 5 months</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/48627/uk-journalist-freed-after-5-months</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/48627/uk-journalist-freed-after-5-months#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 10 Sep 10 06:13:18 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[afp]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=48627</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[A British journalist held captive by extremists in Pakistan’s militant-hit northwest has been released.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[A British journalist held captive by extremists in Pakistan’s militant-hit northwest has been released, the British embassy confirmed on Thursday.

Journalist Asad Qureshi went missing in March while travelling to North Waziristan - a hotbed of militancy - with a retired army officer and a prominent Pakistani ex-spy who was killed by their captors.

“We can confirm Asad Qureshi has been released and our consular team are providing him with consular assistance,” said George Sherriff, a spokesman for the British high commission in Islamabad, giving no further details.

The fate of the third captive, retired military officer Ameer Sultan, known as “Colonel Imam”, could not be confirmed.

A previously unknown group calling themselves Asian Tigers earlier claimed to have kidnapped the group and sent a video of one of their captives, former spy Khalid Khawaja, to the media, before apparently killing him.

An email purportedly sent by the faction said they killed Khawaja because the government did not accept the conditions they had set for his release.

Khawaja, a former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) officer and reported associate of Osama bin Laden, was found dead in April with a note accusing him of spying for the United States, according to security officials. His body was dumped in Mir Ali town in North Waziristan. Khawaja headed a local human rights group and campaigned on behalf of missing people allegedly detained by Pakistan’s intelligence agencies in the fight against militants.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 10th, 2010.]]>
			</content:encoded>
			<image>
				    <img src="https://i.tribune.com.pk/media/images/tribal-areas-Soldier-Reuters/tribal-areas-Soldier-Reuters.jpg" class="featured_image"/>
            </image>
			</item><item>
			<title>Asian Tigers release Colonel Imam, Asad Qureshi</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/11248/asian-tigers-release-colonel-imam-asad-qureshi</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/11248/asian-tigers-release-colonel-imam-asad-qureshi#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 06 May 10 11:35:12 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=11248</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Khawaja, one of the abductees, was found dead beside a road near the town of Mir Ali in April.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Ex-intelligence officer Colonel Imam and journalist Asad Qureshi who were abducted from North Waziristan were released on Thursday.

The two men along with Ex-ISI official Khalid Khawaja, went missing in March. An unknown militant group called the Asian Tigers claimed responsibility for their abduction. Sources said the Asian Tigers released the hostages on pressure from the Afghan Taliban and that the Asian Tigers handed over Imam and Qureshi to the Haqqani group.

Khawaja, one of the abductees, was found dead beside a road near the town of Mir Ali in April.

Former ISI officer Khalid Khwaja , Colonel Imam and a British journalist were abducted from North Waziristan on March 26. They had visited the area to shoot a freelance documentary.]]>
			</content:encoded>
			<image>
				    <img src="https://i.tribune.com.pk/media/images/colonel-imam/colonel-imam.jpg" class="featured_image"/>
            </image>
			</item>	</channel>
                </rss>
