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                        <title>The Express Tribune</title>
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                        <description>The Express Tribune keeps you up to date with all the latest happenings from Pakistan and across the world!</description>
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			<title>HuT links: Brig Ali contests his conviction by a military court</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/481365/hut-links-brig-ali-contests-his-conviction-by-a-military-court</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/481365/hut-links-brig-ali-contests-his-conviction-by-a-military-court#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 19 Dec 12 10:09:25 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[mudassir.raja]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=481365</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Moves LHC against army’s authority to try servicemen after retirement.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[A retired brigadier convicted by a military court for having ties with a banned outfit has challenged the ruling in a civilian court.


Brigadier (retd) Ali Khan moved the Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi Bench on Tuesday challenging his conviction by a  military court for having ties with Hizbut Tehrir (HuT). Khan’s plea focuses on whether the military has the authority to court martial a retired serviceman.

Justice Khawaja Imtiaz Ahmed of the Lahore High Court Rawalpindi bench has set the hearing of the case for the first week of January next.

Filed through Advocate Altaf Elahi Sheikh, the brigadier, who was convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment on August 3, 2012, said in his petition that defence ministry officials should be prosecuted for committing perjury in the court.



The petition maintained that in the written response the military secretary branch of GHQ noted that his April 11, 2011 retirement order was temporarily suspended on July 5, 2011 in consultation with the federal government.

Later, when the petitioner urged the court to direct military authorities to submit the notification under which his retirement was held in abeyance, they submitted a notification dated January 10, 2012.

The petitioner said that the belated notification presented in court refuted military authorities’ earlier claim that Brig Ali’s retirement was held in abeyance to try him under the Army Act.

In his petition, Brig Ali challenged his trial by military court, saying he could not have been tried under the Army Act as he was no longer in military service.

The brigadier and four majors — Jawad Baseer of Kohat, Iftikhar Ahmed of Abbottabad, Inayat Aziz of Lahore and Sohail Akbar of Islamabad — were tried and convicted by a military court for their links with the banned outfit and for attempting to recruit army officials to join their ranks.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 19th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>The Lord be praised</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/472803/the-lord-be-praised</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/472803/the-lord-be-praised#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 29 Nov 12 17:46:59 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[kamran.shafi]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=472803</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Thank the Lord We were spared presence of Islam4UK, Al-Muhajiroun at so-called ‘Sharia for Pakistan conference’.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Let me start by condemning the ugly and threatening posters against Gen Kayani by the Hizbut Tahrir whose anti-democracy, violent creed I just cannot abide; and about which I have written much in the 19 years, since 1993 when I first discovered this hate-spewing group while on a posting in London.

In the same breath, let me condemn the alleged ‘kidnapping’ and ‘disappearance’ of one Saad Jagranvi, a member of this organisation, on December 27, from Lahore. I am as against ‘disappearances’ as I am against hate speech, violence, religious bigotry, and hypocrisy. If Jagranvi has a case to answer let him answer it in an open court of law.

Before we go any further, let me make another appeal to the various ‘agencies’ that disappear people to give up this practice forthwith and to proceed legally against those in their custody in the ‘detention centres’ in Fata and in ‘safe houses’ as their prisons (located in various urban areas all over the country including Islamabad the Beautiful) are called. If there is unavoidable delay in processing their cases, their next of kin must be informed of their well-being, and meetings arranged so their loved ones can meet them.

But back to the Hizbut Tahrir and its sister organisation Al-Muhajiroun now banned in the UK (and their various cousins), both headed at one time by the angry and twisted Omar Bakri Mohammad, a Syrian immigrant to the United Kingdom (now exiled to Lebanon), who very quickly learnt to use the freedoms granted to citizens in free and democratic countries to spread vitriol and hate against his hosts, the kufaar, among who he and his ilk freely chose to live. And, mark, got citizenship rights through various guiles and strategems!

And by one Anjem Choudary, born of Pakistani parents who were economic migrants to the UK, another beauty who, after a stint at the Hizbut Tahrir, co-founded Al-Muhajiroun with Bakri. At its demise when it was banned by the British government for actually running terrorist camps, he formed Al Gharabaa which, too, was banned. Choudary then founded Islam4UK and became its ‘spokesman’.

This organisation too was banned after it foolishly threatened to protest the paying of respects to the war dead by the townspeople of Wooton Bassett located as it was near RAF Lyneham, the RAF’s main transport base in Wiltshire. Since the hearses carrying the coffins of the servicemen and women killed in Iraq and Afghanistan passed through the High Street, it had become a custom for the people to line the street in silent homage.

I was in England at the time, very near Lyneham at that, and well remember the justified anger and disgust of the locals at this brazen attempt to play with other people’s feelings. Particularly from those who — and their extended families — live on the dole in the UK; in council housing; their children going to state schools; their parents and grandparents looked after by the free NHS. Talk of biting the hand that feeds you.

Anyway, the feelings of the entire country were so roused, even Muslim groups and organisation roundly condemning this stupidity on television and in the newspapers, that there was a great danger of the public peace being disturbed. Even the prime minister went public with his criticism. Amid the uproar he created, Mr Choudary quite cravenly backed down.

“We come here to civilise people, get them to come out of the darkness and injustice into the beauty of Islam”, says Anjem Choudary. Yet the network of the violent organisations, banned and present that he and Bakri have headed at one time or another also say: “Live among the kufaar but do not make friends with them; live among the kufaar but do not warm yourselves at their (camp) fires; live among the kufaar but kill them when you can”. The free heating in NHS hospitals that warms granny’s aching old bones is not a campfire, what? Can you believe any of this hypocrisy, reader?

We were thus spared the presence of these two hate-mongers at a so-called ‘Sharia for Pakistan conference’ that was announced to be held at Lal Masjid today after the Khateeb of the mosque announced he had nothing to do with the project that had the following agenda: 1) The Kufr Constitution of Pakistan; 2) Declaration of Fatwa on Malala; 3) MA Jinnah, The Traitor of Islam; 4) The Apostasy of Asif Ali Zardari; and 5) The Transformation of Pakistan under the Sharia.

The poster that appeared in Islamabad and on the Internet was something to behold. In the background, the Quaid’s mausoleum had a sniper’s cross-hairs on it; in the foreground the Quaid; President Zardari; and Malala were seen engulfed in flames. And Anjem Choudary says he is in the UK to ‘civilise’ people! Disgusting creature.

However, all’s well that ends well, and thank the Lord we don’t have to see the ugly spectacle of this cursed conference. Let us then end on a light note, but which holds a warning for those who leap before thinking of the consequences.

As the story goes, when Progressive Papers Limited (PPL) was run by Mian Iftikharuddin and Syed Ameer Hussain Shah was its Managing Director; Faiz Ahmed Faiz was Chief Editor and Mazhar Ali Khan, Editor of its flagship English paper the Pakistan Times, someone mischievously wrote on the bathroom wall: “Anwar Ali khood aik cartoon hein”. Anwar Ali Sahib was the legendary cartoonist at the paper whose ‘Nanna’ used to appear on the front page every day.

An angry Anwar Sahib went to the MD and demanded that every person working on his floor should be summoned and asked to write the offending words on a piece of paper and he would then identify the culprit. Shah Sahib replied that whilst very few people might have read the graffiti which he would order removed immediately, why ask 60 more people to write the offending words so that even those who might not have read them would know what was written in the bathroom? But Anwar Sahib insisted.

The front page of The News (November 29) carries in bold letters the bad names used for “respected and revered personalities in the judiciary” in the press/electronic media. Akin to what happened at the Pakistan Times so many years ago, no?

Published in The Express Tribune, November 30th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Hizbut Tahrir and the army</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/417593/hizbut-tahrir-and-the-army</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/417593/hizbut-tahrir-and-the-army#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 04 Aug 12 18:50:35 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Editorial]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=417593</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Army is loyal to ideology of Pakistan, few officers may be led astray because of their insulation from civil society.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The Pakistan Army has taken the right course by deciding that officers owing allegiance to banned organisations cannot be tolerated. A military court has sent to jail five military officers, including a brigadier, for membership of a terrorist organisation called Hizbut Tahrir (HUT) and for attempting to overthrow the political order in the name of religion. Brigadier Ali Khan got five years while Major Sohail Akbar, Major Jawwad Baseer, Major Inayat Aziz and Major Iftikhar have been jailed for three years, two years, and 18 months each, respectively. Brigadier Khan came into the focus of army investigators after al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was killed in Abbottabad in May 2011. He called for the resignation of army and ISI chiefs over bin Laden’s killing and wrote letters to army generals on how to become self-reliant and cleanse the army of American influence.

The army is a part of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Anyone who arrogates to himself the right to work towards overthrowing the constitutionally established military institution in favour of whatever personal programme is guilty of treason and cannot be allowed to operate freely.

UK-based HUT and its sister outfit al Muhajirun were allowed into Pakistan in the early 2000s under former General (retd) Pervez Musharraf’s government. Their founder, Umar Bakri, a Syrian Arab preacher, has since been exiled from the UK. Among his followers were many Pakistanis belonging to the largest Muslim minority in Britain.

According to a former HUT activist, Majid Nawaz, the HUT was set-up in Pakistan in the early 1990s by Imtiaz Malik, a British Muslim and in 1999, a call was sent to British HUT members to move to Pakistan, which prompted the movement of some of the UK’s top quality activists to South Asia. At least 10 British activists were planted in each of Pakistan’s main cities. Egypt, Libya and Pakistan banned the HUT which was proscribed by Pakistan in 2004, following an alleged plot to assassinate former president Pervez Musharraf.

More recently, on October 22, 2009, the HUT was banned in Bangladesh for allegedly trying to destabilise the country. The home secretary of Bangladesh said the government “feared the HUT posed a serious threat to peaceful life”.

In his book, Islam under Siege: Living Dangerously in Post-Honour World (Polity Press 2003) Akbar S Ahmed, a former Pakistan’s High Commissioner in the UK, wrote:

“In Britain, Sheikh Umar Bakri’s Khilafah, the journal of the Hizbut Tahrir, attacked Jinnah as a kafir and an insult for a Muslim. Moreover, it accused Jinnah of being an enemy of God and of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) because Jinnah supported women, Christians and Hindus, and advocated democracy. Why, I asked myself, did they pick on Jinnah? Because, I concluded, Bakri saw him as a major ideological opponent. Significantly, after the American strikes in Sudan and Afghanistan in 1998, Bakri emerged in the media to claim that he represented Bin Laden in Europe” (P 113).

It is common knowledge in Pakistan that non-state actors have decided to shift their allegiance from Pakistan to terrorist organisations like al Qaeda. The Pakistan Army is fighting them in parts of our tribal areas and offering sacrifices in the shape of casualties to save Pakistan from the clutches of these terrorists. One deserter army officer, Major Haroon Ashiq, is in jail for working for al Qaeda, putting the nation on notice about the kind of danger Pakistan faces.

Misguided officers were moved more by blind emotion than by reason and information, otherwise they could not have joined an outfit that condemned the founder of Pakistan and the idea of Pakistan on the basis of which Pakistan has given itself a constitution. The army is overwhelmingly loyal to the ideology of Pakistan but a few officers may be led astray because of their insulation from civil society. In Pakistan, despite its efforts, the HUT has not won any support from an electorate that accepts democracy and votes for parties that accept the representative system operating in the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 5th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Links with banned group: Military court jails Brig Ali, four majors</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/417335/links-with-banned-group-military-court-jails-brig-ali-four-majors</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/417335/links-with-banned-group-military-court-jails-brig-ali-four-majors#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 04 Aug 12 00:13:47 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=417335</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Convicted officers have the right to appeal their conviction.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[A military court sentenced five military officers, including a brigadier, at a court martial on Friday, convicting them of links to a banned radical group. It is the first time senior army officers have been convicted and jailed over associations with banned organisations.

Brig Ali was sentenced to five years in jail, according to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). The four others – Major Sohail Akbar, Major Jawwad Baseer, Major Inayat Aziz and Major Iftikhar – were jailed for three years, two years, and 18 months each, respectively.

The ISPR statement did not name the group, but officials have in the past identified it as Hizbut Tahrir (HuT). The group, headquartered in Britain, does not advocate violence, but has been accused of links to violent extremist groups.

The HuT is working to rid the Islamic world of ‘corrupt rulers’ and establish a caliphate on the pattern of medieval Islam.

The ISPR said the convicted officers have the right to appeal, but provided no details.

The HuT is not banned in Britain, but has been outlawed in Pakistan and lies on the fringes of Western concerns about links between the military and militant groups.

Brig Khan was detained days after al Qaeda head honcho  Osama bin Laden was killed in a top-secret US commando raid in the garrison city of Abbottabad on May 2, 2011.

Brig Khan had allegedly become exceedingly vocal on sensitive issues and had even called for the resignation of army and ISI chiefs over the Bin Laden debacle.

Family and lawyer deny that Brig Ali had links with the HuT and claimed that the main reason behind his detention and subsequent conviction appears to be his highly critical stance on the army’s high command and its relationship with the US.

According to the BBC, Brig Khan had started writing letters to army generals, some of whom were his former colleagues, with suggestions on how to become ‘self-reliant’ and “to purge the army of the American influence”.

He allegedly told senior officers such as Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani that Pakistan’s ‘unconditional’ support to the Americans was creating an environment of resentment in the lower ranks of the army.

Brig Khan is known to have a ‘brilliant’ service record and comes from a family with three generations of military service.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 4th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Hizbut Tahrir ties: Brigadier Ali, 3 other officers found guilty</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/417085/hizbut-tahrir-ties-brigadier-ali-3-other-officers-charged-guilty</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/417085/hizbut-tahrir-ties-brigadier-ali-3-other-officers-charged-guilty#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 03 Aug 12 12:27:13 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=417085</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Brigadier Ali Khan will be imprisoned for five years.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Brigadier Ali Khan and three other military officers, who were court-martialed due to their alleged ties with banned militant outfit Hizbut Tahrir (HuT), were found guilty and will be imprisoned, Express News reported on Friday.

According to an ISPR statement announcing the final verdict, Brigadier Ali Khan will be imprisoned for five years, Major Sohail Akbar for three years, Major Jawwad Bashir for two years and Major Inayat Aziz for 18 months.

The court martial proceedings against these army officers were concluded earlier last month.

The ISPR statement said that the accused have the right to appeal against the decision.

Brig Khan was arrested in May last year; a day later four army majors were also arrested for alleged links with HuT.

Brigadier Khan was also accused of attempted mutiny.

The HuT calls for creating a pan-Islamic caliphate system by ousting, what it says, the pro-American government in the country.

Sources had earlier said that though Brig Khan was allegedly in contact with HuT, the main reason behind his detention appears to be his highly critical stance on the army’s high command over its relationship with the US.

According to the BBC, Brig Khan started writing letters to army generals, some of whom were his former colleagues, with suggestions on how to become ‘self-reliant’ and “to purge the army of the American influence”.]]>
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			<title>Brig Ali's court martial proceedings conclude</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/399411/brig-alis-court-martial-proceedings-conclude</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/399411/brig-alis-court-martial-proceedings-conclude#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 26 Jun 12 12:49:25 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[mudassir.raja]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=399411</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Military court, on completing the proceedings, will draft a written order and send it to the commanding officer.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Court martial proceedings against Brigadier Ali Khan concluded on Tuesday. Brig Khan, along with four other military officers, was court-martialed due to his alleged ties with banned militant outfit Hizbut Tahrir (HuT).

Brig Khan was arrested in May last year, a day later four army majors were also arrested for alleged links with HuT. He is also accused of attempted mutiny.

Brig Khan’s lawyer Colonel (retd) Inamur Raheem confirmed that the court martial proceedings have concluded and the final verdict will be announced in a few days. He told The Express Tribune that five witnesses from the prosecutors and two from defence were present during the proceedings.

The military court, on completing the proceedings, will draft a written order and send it to the commanding officer.

During the proceedings, Brig Khan’s lawyer maintained that the proceedings were initiated against his client with malicious intent.

Earlier, Brig Khan had filed an application in the Lahore High Court seeking that the court martial proceedings against him be declared illegal. The bench was due to hear the plea today, but maintained that it had not received any reply from the Ministry of Defence, announcing the resumption of hearings after summer vacations.]]>
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			<title>Registering protest: On being refused lawyer of choice, Brig Ali boycotts proceedings</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/358623/brig-ali-boycotts-court-martial-proceedings</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/358623/brig-ali-boycotts-court-martial-proceedings#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 02 Apr 12 09:02:10 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[mudassir.raja]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=358623</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[A defending officer appointed to represent accused in court martial trial.]]>
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			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Brigadier (retd) Ali Khan, facing charges of attempting to overthrow the government in a court martial trial, boycotted the court proceedings on Monday, protesting against the refusal of military authorities to allow his lawyer to meet him. 

While talking to The Express Tribune, Advocate Colonel (retd) Inam-ur-Raheem, representing Brig Ali, asserted that his client did not attend proceedings because military authorities had not allowed him to see the ‘counsel of his choice.’

“On Sunday, Brig (retd) Ali asked me have a meeting with him. However, the authorities refused this demand,” said Inam.

“I was later informed that Lieutenant Colonel Khizar Hayat, hailing from General Headquarters’ (GHQ) legal branch, had been appointed as the defending officer for the accused,” he added.

Under military laws, an accused is provided a defending officer only if he cannot afford a lawyer or he assents to have a serving officer defending him in the court.

Lamenting the indifferent attitude of the concerned military authorities, Inam pointed out that he himself had been allowed to see the accused earlier only after the Lahore High Court (LHC) had directed to do so.

Inam went on to add that Brig Ali had also urged the court to grant him permission to see the federal government‘s directives which pertained to his retirement.

The accused continues to maintain that he cannot be tried under military laws since he has already retired from the armed forces.

On May 5, the military authorities detained Brig Ali, accused to have links with the banned Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HuT).]]>
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			<title>Brig Ali approaches Abbottabad commission to record statement: Sources</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/354493/brig-ali-approaches-abbottabad-commission-to-record-statement</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/354493/brig-ali-approaches-abbottabad-commission-to-record-statement#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 24 Mar 12 13:23:38 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[sumera.khan]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=354493</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Brig Ali has been accused of conspiring to overthrow the government, currently facing court martial proceedings.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Brigadier (retd) Ali Khan – who is accused of conspiring to overthrow the government and currently facing court martial proceedings – sent a request to the Abbottabad commission to record his testimony and to make revelations pertaining to the Kargil Operation and the 1999 military coup, sources have revealed.

Sources have said that Brig Ali has requested the Abbottabad commission to allow him to appear in a hearing as he has sensitive information pertaining to national security, which he think should be shared with them. He has, in his written request, stated that he is the one who was most affected by the May 2 raid in which Osama bin Laden was killed.

The application from Brig Ali had been sent though courier dispatch by his family.

Brig Ali, who is accused of having links with Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HuT), had earlier claimed that the court martial is to malign him because he had asked the military brass to fix responsibility for the May 2 raid. Charges of planning an air raid on the General Headquarters using F-16s had also earlier been dropped.]]>
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			<title>GHQ air raid charges against Brig Ali dropped</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/352533/ghq-air-raid-charges-against-brig-ali-dropped</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/352533/ghq-air-raid-charges-against-brig-ali-dropped#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 20 Mar 12 06:40:10 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[mudassir.raja]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=352533</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Field General Court Martial drops one of 2 charges against Brig Ali, charge of links with HuT still not dropped.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[A Field General Court Martial (FGCM) where Brigadier (retd) Ali Brig Ali was being tried has dropped one of two charges against him. The dropped charges were that he had planned to carry out an air raid on General Headquarters using F-16s.

Counsel for Brig Ali, Advocate Colonel (retd) Inamur Raheem informed the Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court that the hearing had taken place yesterday (Monday), and added that the other charge of alleged links with Hizbut Tahrir had still not been taken back.

Raheem also revealed that the FGCM has summoned the Judge Advocate General (JAG) branch on March 27.

FGCM also directed military authorities to shift him back to Rawalpindi from Sialkot.

Raheem said that Brig Ali’s retirement orders were held in abeyance by the military authorities.

Brig Ali had moved a petition before the Lahore High Court (LHC), stating that the court martial proceedings against him be declared illegal because he was a retired army official.

He had also said he was being maligned after he had asked military officials to fix responsibility for the May 2 American incursion in Abbottabad and keep a check on perks enjoyed by certain officers.]]>
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			<title>Court martial proceedings: Brig Khan shifted to undisclosed location</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/349694/court-martial-proceedings-brig-khan-shifted-to-undisclosed-location</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/349694/court-martial-proceedings-brig-khan-shifted-to-undisclosed-location#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 14 Mar 12 04:12:28 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[mudassir.raja]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=349694</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[He was being treated at Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The defence lawyer of Brig (retd) Ali Khan, who is facing a court martial for treason and mutiny, said on Tuesday that his client had been relocated from the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology (AFIC) in Rawalpindi in violation of Lahore High Court orders to provide him with medical care.


In an application filed in LHC’s Rawalpindi bench, Advocate Colonel (retd) Inamur Rahim claimed that Brig Khan was unlawfully shifted from the AFIC, where he was being treated for heart problems.

He informed the bench, headed by Justice Mazhar Iqbal Sidhu, that Brig Khan was present in a private room at the High Dependency Ward of the AFIC till Monday evening; however, he was relocated to an undisclosed location on Monday night, according to his family.

Lt Col Dr Waqar Paracha of the AFIC had been asked to appear before the LHC on March 12 due to concerns for Brig Khan’s health, however military authorities relocated Brig Khan from the AFIC before responding to the court’s orders, Rahim informed the bench.

The bench directed the deputy attorney general (DAG) to obtain an immediate response from the commandant AFIC, a major general. DAG Malik Faisal informed the court that medical authorities at the AFIC had no record of Brig Khan being received at the AFIC, Rahim said, adding that the court in its order once again directed Dr Paracha to appear before the court on Wednesday and reveal where Brig Khan had been taken.

Brig Khan has been charged with plotting to bomb the army’s General Head­quarters (GHQ) during a meeting of formation commanders. He is also facing charges of maintaining links with banned group Hizb-ut-Tahrir.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 14th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Court martial: Brig Ali’s attorney expresses distrust in the trial judge</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/347141/court-martial-brig-ali%e2%80%99s-attorney-expresses-distrust-in-the-trial-judge</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/347141/court-martial-brig-ali%e2%80%99s-attorney-expresses-distrust-in-the-trial-judge#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 08 Mar 12 04:46:53 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[mudassir.raja]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=347141</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Advocate Col (retd) Raheem urges Justice Rauf Sheikh to not hear Brig Ali’s petition against court martial.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The attorney for Brigadier (retd) Ali Khan – who is accused of conspiring to overthrow the government and mount an attack on the army headquarters – said on Wednesday that he did not trust Justice Rauf Ahmed Sheikh who has already disclosed his mind in favour of the military authorities.


Advocate Colonel (retd) Inamur Raheem urged Justice Sheikh to not hear the petition of Brig Ali who has challenged court martial proceedings against him. He alleged that the judge, in another case, had decided in favour of the army, saying the high court could not overturn the orders of the army chief.

Justice Sheikh then referred the petition to the senior-most judge of the Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC). He, however, remarked that he had never made any observation about any decisions of military authorities.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Advocate Raheem said that Justice Sheikh had dismissed on February 16 five petitions filed by convicts in the 2009 GHQ attack case, saying that the high court could not do anything after the army chief declined to provide certain documents.

Brig Ali is accused of having links with Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HuT) and planning an attack on the GHQ with the help of some civilians and a PAF pilot.

Giving reasons against his court martial Brig Ali, in his petition, has said that he is being maligned because he had asked the military brass to fix responsibility for the May 2 raid by US special forces in Abbottabad that killed al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

“It was on May 5 that I urged the military’s highest hierarchy to fix responsibility for the US attack. I suggested the army leadership surrender their perks and privileges to get self-reliance. After the conference I was arrested and kept in solitary confinement,” the petitioner said.

After Brig Ali’s arrest the military issued a press release saying that he had been arrested for having links with HuT. The petitioner said that army investigators later charged him with planning to neutralise the top military and civil leadership to establish caliphate in the country and to carry out an air attack using F-16 fighter jets on the GHQ. He denied the charge.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 8th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Bigger plot: ‘HuT has formed a shadow govt for Pakistan’</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/346598/bigger-plot-%e2%80%98hut-has-formed-a-shadow-govt-for-pakistan%e2%80%99</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/346598/bigger-plot-%e2%80%98hut-has-formed-a-shadow-govt-for-pakistan%e2%80%99#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 07 Mar 12 05:09:58 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[news.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=346598</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[111 Brigade chief says Brig Ali had met HuT’s chief for Palestinian territory.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Brigadier (retd) Ali Khan, who is accused of plotting to topple the democratic government and mount attacks on the army headquarters, had met the chief of banned group Hizb-ut-Tahrir for Palestinian territory while he was conspiring to overthrow the government and create Islamic caliphate, the BBC quoted a senior military officer as saying.


According to Brigadier Amir Riaz, head of 111 Brigade, Brig Ali had disclosed that HuT has prepared a new constitution and a shadow government for Pakistan and that the group was ready to take over anytime.

Brigadier Amir Riaz, who has now been promoted to the rank of Major-General, has been introduced by the prosecution as a witness against Brig Ali, who is currently facing court martial proceedings.

Brig Riaz (now Maj-Gen) said in a statement that a few months back Brig Ali had expressed distrust in Pakistan’s incumbent civil and military leaderships and had called for establishing Islamic caliphate in the country. According to the prosecution documents, Brig Ali had allegedly told his former colleagues that he had friends in the HuT and that he had met the group’s chief for Palestinian territory.

“Brig Ali told me that HuT could establish a real caliphate which could also ensure good governance in Pakistan. He also told me that HuT has prepared an alternative constitution and a shadow government which could take over anytime,” Brig Riaz said.

Brig Riaz, who has been named as a witness by the prosecution, was promoted to the rank of Maj Gen following his statement against Brig Ali, according to the BBC report.

Brig Ali believed that HuT could establish caliphate in Pakistan only if the military handed over power to the group, said Brig Riaz. And this was not possible until the incumbent military brass was removed.

Brig Riaz said that he knew his former colleague Brig Ali as an emotional person – but his statement could not be brushed aside as his emotionalism.

In his statement, he further said Brig Ali had told him that some elements in Pakistan Air Force were part of the HuT conspiracy and they would mount an air raid on the General Headquarters with F-16 fighter jets during a corps commanders’ conference to eliminate the army brass.

He claimed that Brig Ali had asked him to take over key buildings in Islamabad following such an attack. But he said that he had turned down the offer to become part of the conspiracy and to cooperate with Brig Ali.

After being disappointed in Brig Riaz, Brig Ali tried to recruit other army officers. He seemed in a hurry to execute his plot because his retirement from service was nearing.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 7th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Post-retirement: LHC questions court martial against Brig Ali</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/343816/post-retirement-lhc-questions-court-martial-against-brig-ali</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/343816/post-retirement-lhc-questions-court-martial-against-brig-ali#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 01 Mar 12 04:39:45 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[mudassir.raja]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=343816</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Court directs army to explain whether the accused official could be tried under army law as he is no longer serving.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The Lahore High Court (LHC) has directed the army to explain whether or not Brigadier (retd) Ali Khan, accused of planning attacks on the general headquarters (GHQ), could be tried under army laws since he is no longer serving.


The LHC Rawalpindi bench was hearing a petition by Brig Ali against his court martial proceedings on Wednesday.

Justice Ijaz Ahmed directed Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Sardar Tariq Anis and Colonel Muhammad Tahir, a representative of the judge advocate general, to explain the status of the petitioner in a detailed report.

Advocate Colonel (retd) Inamur Raheem, representing Brig Ali, argued before the court that his client could not be tried under the Pakistan Army Act as he retired in April, last year, after the completion of his service.

In response, the DAG said that military authorities had held the retirement of Brig Ali in abeyance; therefore he was subject to army laws for trial.

The petitioner’s lawyer, however, rejected the DAG’s arguments, saying that there had been no precedent of stopping an individual from retiring after the completion of services.

The court directed the responding authorities to submit written comments by March 7 – the next date of hearing.

Sharing other details of Wednesday’s proceedings, Advocate Inam said the court also directed the military authorities to allow Brig Ali’s attorneys to see him at the Sailkot cantonment, where he was being tried by a Field General Court Martial.

He further said a cardiologist of Brig Ali’s choice had been allowed to see him and that the authorities had already permitted some relatives of the detained brigadier to visit him.

The military has been trying the retired officer on charges of having links with banned outfit Hizbut Tahrir (HT) and planning an attack on the GHQ, with the help of some civilians as well as a PAF pilot.

In his petition, Brig Ali said that he was being maligned only after he asked the military brass to fix responsibility for the May 2 raid of US special forces in Abbottabad.

“On May 5, I had urged the highest hierarchy in the military to fix responsibility on officers for the US raid. I also suggested that the army leadership should surrender their perks and privileges. After the conference, I was arrested and kept in solitary confinement,” Brig Ali claimed.

After his arrest, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) had issued a press release saying that Brig Ali had been arrested for having links with the HT. The petitioner said that army investigators later charged him with planning to neutralise the top military and civil leadership to establish Khilafat in the country and to carry out an air raid on the GHQ using F-16s. Brig Ali has denied the allegations.

On the other hand, investigation officer (IO) of the case, Major Khawaja Kashif Saleem, in his statement before the trial court, alleged that the accused officer was introduced to HT’s activist Rizwan by Major Jawad Baseer in Islamabad in August 2008 and that Rizwan had asked for army support for Khilafat.

According to Saleem, the accused brigadier accepted Rizwan’s plan and was in constant touch with him and another activist, Abdul Qadir.  He added that Brig Ali also kept persuading his colleagues to join the HT despite knowing it was a banned outfit.

The IO alleged that HT members, through Brig Ali, tried to neutralise the senior political and military leadership including the president, prime minister, and  the chief of army staff.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 1st, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Incitement to mutiny: Officers accused of influencing Brig Ali’s trial</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/341929/incitement-to-mutiny-officers-accused-of-influencing-brig-ali%e2%80%99s-trial</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/341929/incitement-to-mutiny-officers-accused-of-influencing-brig-ali%e2%80%99s-trial#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 26 Feb 12 05:36:28 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[news.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=341929</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Brother says Brig Ali not allowed to meet his civil lawyer.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The family of an army brigadier, who was arrested on charges of inciting mutiny and plotting attacks on the army headquarters, has alleged that the military brass is influencing his court martial proceedings.


Talking to the BBC, a younger brother of Brig Ali Khan said that his elder brother was not being allowed to meet his civil attorney, making the family believe that the court martial proceedings would not be transparent.

Malik Bashir said that he and his lawyer, Asad Manzoor Butt, arrived at the Sialkot garrison to see Brig Ali with a prior permission from the authorities but the counsel was not allowed to see his client.

The military authorities insist that only a military-appointed defence counsel can see Brig Ali. “This is violation of rules and we are considering consulting civil courts against this behaviour,” he said.

Brig Ali was taken into custody from his office in the GHQ on May 6. Meanwhile, investigations were being carried out against him for his alleged links with Hizbut Tehrir extremist group.

According to the charge sheet, Brig Ali is accused of inciting mutiny against the civilian government and plotting with some military officers and civilians to attack the GHQ. He had tried to take support from the chief of the Triple-One Brigade and some other officers.

Bashir alleged that some senior army officers were using delaying tactics in initiating the court martial proceedings against his brother. He added that according to rules, formal proceedings of the Field General Court Martial should have started immediately after the framing of the charge sheet. “The prosecution does not have any evidence against my brother and they are just dilly dallying and taking revenge.”

Bashir said his family has been serving the military for 60 years and wanted to solve the issue within the army. “But these injustices are forcing us to take the case to civil courts, though this is not our priority,” he added.

Bashir requested the army brass to refrain from influencing the proceedings of the Field General Court Martial and allow Brig Ali a fair trial. He said if the military authorities did not influence the court, he was quite sure his brother would prove innocent.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 26th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Banned group: Hizbut Tahrir slams Brigadier Ali’s court-martial</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/339474/banned-group-hizbut-tahrir-slams-brigadier-ali%e2%80%99s-court-martial</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/339474/banned-group-hizbut-tahrir-slams-brigadier-ali%e2%80%99s-court-martial#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 21 Feb 12 05:01:51 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[qaiser.butt]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=339474</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Military officer was arrested in May last year for ties to organisation.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Hizbut Tahrir (HuT) has come to the defence of Brigadier Ali Khan and four other military officers who are currently being court-martialled due to their alleged ties to the banned militant outfit. Describing Brig Khan as one of the most capable officers in the army, HuT has bitterly criticised the establishment over its decision to try him in a military court.


Brig Khan was arrested in May last year. A day later four army majors were also arrested for alleged links with HuT. Sources say the military trial is currently in process; Brig Khan is also accused of attempted mutiny.

In an SMS and also through a statement on its website, HuT, which was banned in Pakistan in 2004, expressed its disappointment over the trial decision.

Highlighting what it called Brig Khan’s “illustrious military career,” the statement said that he is “an officer of humble origins from Punjab province who had a distinguished thirty-two year military career and was a gold medalist.”

“Army officers who had served with Brigadier Ali Khan stated that he had been exerting influence on the military leadership to stop the alliance with America in its crusade against the Muslims of the tribal areas and Afghanistan,” the statement added.

Matters came to a head when Brig Khan openly challenged the then Chief of Army Staff, General Pervez Musharraf, in the military’s prestigious Quetta Staff College as to why Musharraf did not make public the details of the alliance agreement with the US.

He further demanded a clear definition of the ‘limits’ of the alliance with the US. Gen Musharraf presided personally over the promotion board a few weeks later and denied Brig Khan’s expected promotion to Major General.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 21st, 2012.]]>
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			<title>'Brig Khan was conspiring against the govt': Report</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/337013/hizbut-tahrir-links-brig-khan-was-conspiring-against-the-govt</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/337013/hizbut-tahrir-links-brig-khan-was-conspiring-against-the-govt#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 15 Feb 12 18:49:43 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=337013</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Besides court martial, the brigadier could also face the death penalty.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[As court martial proceedings against Pakistan Army’s Brigadier Ali Khan are underway, for suspected ties with banned group Hizbut Tahrir (HuT), the BBC’s Urdu service reported that it had acquired a copy of the official charge sheet against the senior army officer, on Wednesday.

The chargesheet was issued and signed by a high ranking army official in Sialkot, where the brigadier was serving.  The chargesheet cites three allegations against Brig Khan.

The first allegation states that the Brigadier Khan had admitted on various occasions to links with the HuT between 2008 and 2011.

Next, the chargesheet stated that Brig Khan was conspiring to topple the government of Pakistan and for this purpose was trying to coax other senior army officers into joining him.

The officers include, Brigadier Amir Riaz, head of the 111 Brigade, Brigadier Naeem Sadiq of the Defence Export Promotion Organisation and Air Defence Command Brigadier Mohammad Amin.

The 111 brigade is posted in Rawalpindi and is part of the X Corps. It has been known to play a pivotal role in military takeovers in the country, given it is a force of 4,250 strong, assigned to guard sensitive military and government installations, including the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi.

The third charge against Brig Khan was that of trying to instigate a mutiny within the army by launching an attack on the GHQ.

If proven guilty on all counts, the brigadier could be sentenced to death. He will also face a court martial in the officer’s unit of origin, in Multan.

Civilians were also named in the chargesheet, who the army say are British citizens and members of HuT.

Earlier on February 12, military sources confirmed that a trial against Brig Khan was under way.

The brigadier and four other officers were detained in 2011, soon after the May 2 incident in which US forces killed al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad. He has been in custody for almost 10 months and was working at the GHQ in Rawalpindi at the time of his arrest. Brig Khan has denied the allegations against him.

His lawyer, retired Col Inam Rahim, said his client was detained for demanding that someone within the military be held accountable for the covert US raid in Abbottabad.

Security agencies had also arrested HuT deputy spokesperson Imran Yousafzai from Islamabad following the detention of the suspected officials. Four other HuT activists were also arrested from Islamabad and Multan.

The banned outfit has spearheaded criticism against the Pakistan Army for its ‘failure’ during the US raid in Abbottabad.

Leaflets distributed by HuT in major cities instigated army officers to mutiny against their top brass.

Brig Khan was due to retire on July 9, 2011, after completing his service in the Pakistan Army.]]>
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			<title>Hizbut Tahrir links: Court martial initiated against Brigadier Ali Khan</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/334975/alleged-hizbut-tahrir-links-court-martial-initiated-against-brigadier-ali-khan</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/334975/alleged-hizbut-tahrir-links-court-martial-initiated-against-brigadier-ali-khan#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 11 Feb 12 10:46:04 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=334975</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Four other officers also suspended over alleged ties with the banned militant Hizbut Tahrir (HuT).]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Security officials claimed on Saturday that the Pakistan Army has initiated a court martial against Brigadier Ali Khan, who was arrested in May last year for his alleged ties with the banned militant outfit Hizbut Tahrir (HuT), Associated Press reported.

Two senior security officials revealed the news on condition of anonymity, but did not provide further details.

Brigadier Khan had opted to be tried by court martial after an inquiry board informed him that the allegations leveled against him had been substantiated. He had asked the concerned officials to prove the allegations against him before the court.

The brigadier was charged for his alleged ties to extremist organisations, including the banned UK-based organisation HuT. A day later, four army majors were also arrested for their alleged links with HuT.]]>
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			</item><item>
			<title>Intelligence agencies deny detaining HuT activists</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/228384/missing-persons-case-intelligence-agencies-deny-detaining-ht-activists</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/228384/missing-persons-case-intelligence-agencies-deny-detaining-ht-activists#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 10 Aug 11 09:36:19 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=228384</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Petiti­ons allege person­s were picked up by securi­ty agenci­es.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The intelligence agencies denied having the missing Hizbut Tahrir (HuT) activists in custody as the Islamabad High Court (IHC) reserved its judgement of the case on Wednesday.

A single-member bench headed by Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman resumed the hearing of four identical petitions seeking recovery of five missing persons.

A petition filed earlier said that Osama Hanif, a telecom engineer and graduate of the National University of Science and Technology (NUST), went missing from sector G-11, Islamabad.

The defence counsel had informed the court that law enforcement agencies had picked up his client without any reason while he was on his way to his office.

However, during the hearing of the case on Wednesday, the lawyers representing the Military Intelligence challenged the jurisdiction of the court and denied accusations of the agency holding the missing people.

Earlier, during the hearing of the other similar petitions, the IHC clubbed all the cases together and issues notices to the director-general of the Inter-Services Intelligence, chief of the Military Intelligence and superintendent of police. However, the chief of Military Intelligence failed to honour the summons notice by the court.

After the detention of Brigadier Ali Khan by the Pakistan Army for his alleged links with the HuT, more then six young activists of the organisation have gone missing from different areas of the country, out of which one was recently recovered from Lahore.

Meanwhile, the court adjourned the hearing of the case till Friday.]]>
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			<title>Agencies struggle to dismantle Hizb ut-Tahrir network</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/226503/agencies-struggle-to-dismantle-hizb-ut-tahrir-network</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/226503/agencies-struggle-to-dismantle-hizb-ut-tahrir-network#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 08 Aug 11 04:17:08 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[zia.khan]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=226503</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Attempts to break its communication links have so far met with failure.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Security agencies are trying to dismantle a ‘multi-faceted’ communication network of Hizb ut-Tahrir (HuT) but there has been little headway so far, a senior military official said months after some mid-ranked army officers were detained for alleged links with the banned organisation.

“Yes, we are at it… making efforts to dismantle whatever means they [HuT activists] are using to communicate with society and within the outfit,” the official told The Express Tribune on condition of anonymity. “There has not been any major breakthrough yet.”

The official said that the organisation’s presence outside Pakistan was a key factor hindering the country’s spy agencies’ attempts to break links of HuT activists among themselves and with other people.

“It seems that the communication network is being operated from countries like the United Kingdom or some other European states where the outfit is not banned… that makes all the difference,” said the official in an apparent attempt to justify the so called ‘failure’.

The revelation came three months after Brigadier Ali Khan, a serving army officer, and some other unnamed personnel were detained for their alleged links with the HuT — an organisation that seeks to establish a caliphate in Pakistan by overthrowing the democratic government.

Subsequently, intelligence agencies launched a countrywide crackdown on HuT activists and some of its activists – allegedly the masterminds behind its ‘highly sophisticated cyber warfare’ – were picked up from different parts of the country.

The arrest last month of a telecom engineer, Osama Hanif, from Islamabad was part of the campaign to dismantle the organisation’s technological network that still operates freely without any hindrance. The official also confirmed that some of the arrests of HuT activists were linked to efforts to block its communication but refused to give the exact number.

The HuT uses many platforms on the internet, cellular phones and written materials to send their message across despite a ban on its activities.

“Had it been an easy task, Americans would have contained al Qaeda’s cyber jihad… they are still operating freely 10 years after the [9/11] attack,” he explained.

Laxity and incapability 

But experts who have been monitoring extremist outfits’ rise and fall in Pakistan appear to be differing in opinion from the official version.

“Their [agencies] focus seems to be countering them through human intelligence… they need to concentrate on modern cyber techniques,” said security analyst Amir Rana, who runs the Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies (PIPS), a think tank in Islamabad.

He, however, agreed that the fact that HuT was banned only by Pakistan and not the rest of the world aggravated the problem.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 8th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Missing student’s case: IHC issues notices to intelligence officials</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/217353/missing-student%e2%80%99s-case-ihc-issues-notices-to-intelligence-officials</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/217353/missing-student%e2%80%99s-case-ihc-issues-notices-to-intelligence-officials#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 26 Jul 11 04:44:45 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[obaid.abbasi]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=217353</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Hizb ut-Tahrir’s activist has been missing since July 21.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Intelligence agencies’ officials were issued notices by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in the case of a “missing” Hizbut Tahrir activist.


Muhammad Hanif filed a petition in the IHC seeking the recovery of his son, Osama Hanif, an activist of the banned outfit Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT), who went missing on July 21.

Chief Justice of the IHC, Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman, issued notices to the director-general of the Inter-Services Intelligence, chief of the Military Intelligence and superintendent of police in the case.

The petitioner said that Osama, a telecom engineer and graduate of the National University of Science and Technology (NUST), went missing from sector G-11, Islamabad.

The defence counsel, Umer Hayat Sindhu, informed the court that law enforcement agencies had picked up his client without any reason while he was on his way to his office.

He argued that his client was never involved in any terror activities and his abduction is illegal. ‘’My client was not involved in any terrorist activity, nor was he wanted in any incident,” the lawyer said.

Sindhu claimed that his client approached the police station concerned for registering a criminal case against the abduction of his son, but police were reluctant to lodge a First Information Report (FIR).

He argued that the respondents have violated the legal and constitutional obligation towards Osama’s life and liberty, which is a violation of Article four, five, nine, 10 and 25 of the Constitution.

He requested the court to declare the detention illegal and asked the court to issue an order for his release.  After the preliminary hearing, the chief justice issued notices to the officials till July 29.

Two other activists of HT, including Imran Yousafzai and Hayyan Dawar, who also went missing on July 12 and 14 respectively had already filed a writ petition. Earlier on July 20, the IHC had directed the deputy attorney general to submit its report on July 25. During the course of hearing, their cases were clubbed with Osama Hanif till July 29.

After the detention of Brigadier Ali Khan by the Pakistan Army for his alleged links with the HT, more then six young activists of the organisation have gone missing from different areas of the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 26th,  2011.]]>
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			<title>An SMS from the Hizbut Tahrir</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/217056/an-sms-from-the-hizbut-tahrir</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/217056/an-sms-from-the-hizbut-tahrir#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 25 Jul 11 16:31:55 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[letter.]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=217056</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The Hizbut Tahrir is constantly generating a tirade of unwanted and unwarranted messages on mobile phones.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[This is with reference to your report of July 25 titled “Intelligence warning: Hizbut-Tahrir planned ‘Arab Spring’ in Pakistan”. The Hizbut Tahrir is constantly generating a tirade of unwanted and unwarranted messages on mobile phones throughout the country.

As a customer of a certain telecom company, I have the right to not want such spam text messages and my privacy is being violated and it is a shame that nothing is done about this. I have sent several complaints to my phone company and it is either unable to or unwilling to take action against those who send such mass messages. Obviously, this cannot be happening without some employee(s) passing on to Hizb members details and telephone numbers of the phone company’s users. What else is one to do? Perhaps I should try my luck with the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority? But the PTA also is not really known for taking any measures to safeguard the rights of consumers.

A Khan

Published in The Express Tribune, July 26th,  2011.]]>
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			<title>Intelligence warning: Hizb ut-Tahrir planned ‘Arab spring’ in Pakistan</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/216828/intelligence-warning-hizb-ut-tahrir-planned-%e2%80%98arab-spring%e2%80%99-in-pakistan</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/216828/intelligence-warning-hizb-ut-tahrir-planned-%e2%80%98arab-spring%e2%80%99-in-pakistan#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 25 Jul 11 04:17:46 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[zia.khan]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=216828</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Classified report says the radical group sought to recruit ‘like-minded’ military officers to its cause.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Several weeks before the military detained a group of senior officers for alleged links with the radical group Hizb ut-Tahrir earlier this year, the country’s intelligence agencies warned that the banned organisation was planning an Egypt-style uprising in Pakistan by seeking support from ‘like-minded’ elements within the armed forces.


In a correspondence among the Punjab police, the Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and the government in April this year, made available to The Express Tribune, there was a clear warning of the outfit attempting a ‘deep infiltration’ of the military and academia.

Wary of its burgeoning network and in what appeared to be an early warning of the group’s growing influence, the Crime Investigation Department (CID) of the police called for taking ‘appropriate’ steps to control the group that calls for establishing a caliphate in Pakistan by overthrowing the government.

“All were forewarned about what was coming,” an official told The Express Tribune on Sunday about the letter.

Officials said the arrest of Brigadier Ali Khan and four hitherto unknown majors in May came after months of such correspondence between various law-enforcement and intelligence agencies, hinting at ‘suspicious’ activities of Hizb ut-Tahrir activists and their possible collaboration with military personnel, particularly in Punjab.

The brigadier and majors are still in the military’s custody and might face a court martial for ‘inciting fellow officers for a mutiny’.

The crucial letter urged law-enforcement officials to take ‘preventive or pre-emptive measures’ to avert any untoward incident and make efforts to “identify and apprehend the miscreants before they succeed in their nefarious designs.”

According to the document, Hizb ut-Tahrir was working on a plan to seek an uprising in Pakistan similar to ones in Tunisia and Egypt earlier this year. “They wanted an Arab spring in Pakistan,” said an official familiar with the letter.

Hizb ut-Tahrir had regularly been distributing pamphlets and leaflets in middle and upper-middle class residential areas of large cities. This  activity gained momentum after the successful uprising in Tunisia.

In its pamphlets, Hizb ut-Tahrir specifically addressed the armed forces, urging military personnel and the general public, especially the youth, to make a concerted effort to get rid of the government, citing the example of Tunisia.

The pamphlets also sought to utilise the public’s anti-American sentiments, inciting them against what it called the ‘pro-American’ generals who they said had engaged a ‘Muslim’ army in a war with their fellow brothers in the tribal areas at the behest of the United States.

Intelligence agencies warned that Hizbut Tahrir was trying to mobilise public opinion in favour of establishing a caliphate in Pakistan by overthrowing the government. As a first step towards their proposed revolution, they want to have an Arab-style uprising which would have the support of the armed forces.

If the organisation could not get generals to support its plans at the institutional level, it would seek officers who were supportive of its ideology to carry out its mission in an individual capacity.

After the arrest of serving army officers for their alleged links with Hizb ut-Tahrir, the government also detained some office bearers of the banned group.

Hizb ut-Tahrir has launched a campaign for their release, with posters seen on walls in different parts of Islamabad, condemning the arrests.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 25th,  2011.]]>
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			<title>Hizb ut-Tahrir activities: ‘No ban unless UK laws challenged’</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/213420/hizb-ut-tahrir-activities-%e2%80%98no-ban-unless-uk-laws-challenged%e2%80%99</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/213420/hizb-ut-tahrir-activities-%e2%80%98no-ban-unless-uk-laws-challenged%e2%80%99#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 20 Jul 11 05:53:33 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[qamar.zaman]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=213420</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[British high commissioner says UK ‘proud’ of its free speech tradition.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The UK will not ban Hizb ut-Tahrir unless it challenges the country’s laws, British High Commissioner Adam Thomson said in an exclusive interview to The Express Tribune.


His comments come amid reports that the Pakistani military is preparing to court martial Brigadier Ali Khan who was detained in May for alleged links to Hizb ut-Tahrir, a non-militant organisation that seeks to implement strict Shariah law in Pakistan after overthrowing the elected government. The organisation is banned in Pakistan for its “extremist” agenda though there is no evidence to suggest its involvement in militant activities. It is operating in several countries of the world and is headquartered in the UK.

“We are well aware that Hizb ut-Tahrir is proscribed in Pakistan, but so far we have not found sufficient evidence to ban this organisation,” Thomson said.

We have a very proud tradition of free speech and we have laws that ensure it is not transgressed, he said. “There are many groups in the UK that make statements which may affect people but they have not broken the law.”

Speaking about the Afghan endgame, Thomson said that the UK is aware of Pakistan’s importance in the process. “We don’t see Pakistan as the only regional player but as a very important player in a political settlement for Afghanistan,” he said. “It is also extremely important for Pakistan to play a role diplomatically and politically, but not militarily except on its side of the border.”

He said that the British government is aware of the damage that has been done to Pakistan by instability in Afghanistan. “It is not in the UK’s interest to see Pakistan destabilised by any outcome in Afghanistan. There is not going to be stability in Pakistan or Afghanistan until there is peace in the border areas,” he said.

Regarding the withdrawal of British forces from Afghanistan, he said: “We aim to have all British combat forces out of Afghanistan by the end of 2014 but that does not mean that Britain will leave Afghanistan. We will continue to provide military and non-military assistance to Afghanistan.”

He also said that the UK will also engage in a long-term development assistance programme since Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world and will be in need of assistance for many years.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 20th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Pakistanis should go 'to the streets' for Islamic rule: Hizb ut-Tahrir</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/200482/pakistanis-should-go-to-the-streets-for-islamic-rule-hizb-ut-tahrir</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/200482/pakistanis-should-go-to-the-streets-for-islamic-rule-hizb-ut-tahrir#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 01 Jul 11 15:01:07 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[reuters]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=200482</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Hizb ut-Tahrir also sees role for elites and army, urges street campaign against government.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Hizb ut-Tahrir, a global extremist party banned in many Muslim states, said on Friday Pakistanis should take to the streets to call for Islamic rule and join a campaign to end subservience to Washington that was advancing "from Indonesia to Tunisia".

The party, which says it is non-violent but is accused by some analysts of seeking a coup in Islamabad, added that "powerful factions" in Pakistani society including the military should also take part, but violence had no place in its work.

Hizb ut-Tahrir won international attention when Pakistan's army said on June 22 it was questioning four majors about alleged links to the party, following the arrest in May of a brigadier suspected of having such ties.

Brigadier Ali Khan, whose lawyer has denied the allegations, was the highest-ranking serving officer arrested in a decade.

The Pakistan army is under pressure to remove extremist sympathisers in its ranks after US forces found and killed Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad on May 2.

In an interview, party spokesman Taji Mustafa said the party sought to emulate the creation of the first Islamic state in what is now Saudi Arabia by "winning public opinion in favour of Islam" through discussions, marches and rallies.

The party worked "to motivate all sections of society to express their determined will, such that they take to the streets and demand the Islamic Caliphate system."

The party and its goal of an Islamic ruler, or Caliph, who implements sharia law posed no threat to Pakistan, said Mustafa, based in Britain, where the party is not banned.

"The threat to Pakistan comes from Zardari, Kayani and Gilani who support drone strikes that kill their own citizens, and who collude with a US-led war of terror," he said, referring to the president, army chief and prime minister.

Powerful factions

Security analysts say the party, not normally seen as a top security threat, has struggled to win mass support in Pakistan and focuses its message on the army since a coup would be the easiest way to oust the civilian government.

The party's Pakistan branch issued a statement earlier in June saying Muslims all over the world, or the "Ummah", were looking to Pakistan's army to provide support for the party's goal of setting up an Islamic state, or Caliphate (Khilafah).

Asked to comment, Mustafa said the party's search for their support was not aimed at obtaining armed backing since that "contradicts our method for bringing about change."

"Seeking nusrah (support) was a practice of Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) when he worked to establish the first Islamic state in Medina," he said.

"It is to ask the powerful factions in society – including the military - to support our call for the implementation of the Khilafah system, to side with the people and to stop propping up the current treacherous regime which is using the military to fight its own citizens as it supports America's war and drone strikes - something that is hugely unpopular."

Mustafa said that globally the party operated in more than 40 countries, both Muslim-majority and -minority countries. It sought to bring the former under a Caliphate. In the latter, it sought to preserve a strong Islamic identity among Muslims.

"Despite the attempts of several Western-backed rulers to ban Hizb ut-Tahrir in parts of the Muslim world, our call for the Khilafah system is gaining traction by the day from Indonesia to Tunisia," he said.

His remark echoes those of many organisations that portray this year's Arab uprisings against political despotism and economic stagnation as inspired by religion. Many Arabs say religious groups have played only a minimal role.]]>
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			<title>Alleged HuT links: ‘Brigadier Ali likely to be released soon’</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/198538/alleged-hut-links-%e2%80%98brigadier-ali-likely-to-be-released-soon%e2%80%99</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/198538/alleged-hut-links-%e2%80%98brigadier-ali-likely-to-be-released-soon%e2%80%99#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 29 Jun 11 02:37:05 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[kamran.yousaf]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=198538</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Chief military spokesman confirms Brig Ali, four other detained servicemen have yet to be formally charge-sheeted.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Brigadier Ali Khan is likely to be released soon after spending more than a month and a half in detention for suspected links with the banned extremist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, his family and officials said.


The brigadier and four unnamed majors are in custody for questioning for their suspected ties with Hizb ut-Tahrir (HuT), which calls for creating a pan-Islamic caliphate system by ousting, what it says, the pro-American government in the country.

Military officials grilling the brigadier have yet not found ‘enough evidence’ to formally charge him, said a military official familiar with the development.

“You need to have very solid evidence to charge-sheet anyone in the military. At the moment there is no such thing against the detained officers, including Brig Ali,” added the official, requesting not to be identified. “Brig Ali is likely to be released soon,” he added.

However, it is unclear whether he will be dismissed from service or allowed to go home with his perks and privileges intact. Brig Ali is due to retire on July 9.

Sources say though Brig Ali was allegedly in contact with HuT, the main reason behind his detention appears to be his highly critical stance on the army’s high command over its relationship with the US.

According to the BBC, Brig Ali started writing letters to army generals, some of whom were his former colleagues, with suggestions on how to become ‘self-reliant’ and “to purge the army of the American influence”.

He told senior officers such as Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani that Pakistan’s ‘unconditional’ support to the Americans was causing resentment in the lower ranks of the army.

But this act does not constitute a serious offence that warranted a serious punishment such as court-martial, sources point out.

Brig Ali’s family has also confirmed that they have been given indications that he would be reunited with them in a few days. Brig Ali also spoke to his family last week for the first time since he was taken into custody on May 6.

“I talked to him briefly on our son’s birthday,” Brig Ali’s wife told The Express Tribune. “He was in good health and quite confident that he would be declared innocent,” she added.

“You should not worry. I have done nothing wrong and Inshallah (God willing) I will be with you very soon,” his wife quoted him as saying.

The military spokesperson Major General Athar Abbas also confirmed that Brig Ali and four other detained majors have yet to be formally charge-sheeted.

“Investigations are underway and they will be charge-sheeted once the probe is complete,” said Major General Abbas. However, he would not provide details.

The fate of the detained officers will be decided on the recommendations of the authorities questioning them, said another unnamed official. But he added that the detained officials are unlikely to be court-martialed.

 

 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 29th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>The war within</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/198057/the-war-within</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/198057/the-war-within#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 28 Jun 11 16:50:21 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[saroop.ijaz]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=198057</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Conflation of religious and national identities result in confusing being a good Muslim with being a good Pakistani.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[“He who battles monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster himself, and if you gaze for long into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you,” wrote Friedrich Nietzsche. The arrest of a serving brigadier and four majors for allegedly having links with banned religious outfit Hizbut Tahrir has been the cause of considerable commotion recently. There are widespread displays of feigned shock at the possibility of linkages between senior army officers and a violence-advocating religious organisation. The expression of horror at this nexus by a person of reasonable comprehension is incredulous. The Islamist tendencies of some in the Pakistan Army have been known and on display for a while now.

The genesis of this religious fervour in the armed forces in general, and the army in particular, is intuitively and easily traced to the Ziaul Haq era and the Afghan war. Admittedly, this is a major contributing factor to the radicalisation of the military, but it is by no means the sole cause. The motto of the Pakistan Army as changed by Ziaul Haq is now, “imaan, taqwa, jihad fi sabilillah” (faith, piety, holy war in the path of Allah). It is interesting to compare this incredibly intense motto with the original unassuming, almost placid, national motto “ittehad, yaqeen aur tanzeem” (unity, faith and discipline). The current motto of the army is blatantly prejudiced and is completely inappropriate as the motto of an army of a nation state. This may seem trivial semantic nitpicking, since who cares about the motto anyway. While that is true for the most part, the primary purpose of slogans and mottos is not to be acted upon, but rather to mould the narrative. And our narrative is quite solidly moulded now. As an example, the implication of the motto is that no non-Muslim is eligible to join the Pakistan Army, or at least join with intellectual honesty since it is theoretically impossible for him or her to live up to or agree with the motto. The Pakistan Army website defines the three components, imaan, taqwa and jihad fi sabilillah, in sufficient detail so as to remove any doubts or aspirations that an infidel may have about joining the army.

The website of Hizbut Tahrir states that its “objective is to resume the Islamic way of life by establishing an Islamic state that executes the systems of Islam”. One can easily mistake this as an excerpt from the Objectives Resolution of the Constitution of Pakistan. Now guess from where the line, “The mission and aim of the momin is martyrdom,” is taken. A reasonable supposition could be the al Qaeda or Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) manifesto. The guess could not be more wrong, since it is from the official website of the Pakistan Army. Hence, the potential succumbing of serving army officers to the propaganda of militant, violent religious-fascist organisations should not be surprising. To put it bluntly, the Pakistan Army has not been commissioned to fight the “holy war in the path of Allah,” but rather to protect the physical frontiers of Pakistan. The army is not being paid a vulgarly large proportion of the budget to pursue the selfish goal of personal salvation, but rather to guard our borders. The phrase “holy war in the path of Allah,” may be a very honourable phrase objectively but its use becomes very tenuous when both sides to a battle are fighting ostensibly in the same path. The academic discussion on precisely what constitutes jihad or not has its place amongst believers, but its place is certainly not the armed forces. The allusion then is that it is a battle over an issue of the interpretation of jihad within the same camp, obscuring the real conflict between civilisation and savagery. My argument is not against personal faith but rather for personal faith, ‘personal’ being the operative word. Furthermore, it is insulting to those of the armed forces who gallantly lay down their lives fighting terrorists and hate-mongers. Our brave soldiers are martyred while fighting a very real, tangible, temporal and existential war, and not in an abstract theological quarrel.

George Bush Jr was widely and rightly censured for making the unbelievably idiotic and hopelessly inexact parallel of the war on terror with the Crusades. Our nation and army are constantly guilty of a similar folly as a collective. It would be slightly unfair to single out the army for this exhibition of prejudice. A provincial chief justice some time ago remarked that only a good Muslim can be a good judge. The primary and, no doubt, unintended result was not a slur at Lord Dennings or Justice Antonin Scalia etc but at the impeccable Justice Rana Bhagwan Das.

Our television anchors and writers are particularly fond of using broad, monolith terms for those outside the fold of Islam. Appealing to Jinnah’s Pakistan may not prove very reassuring. The conflation of religious and national identity begins from Jinnah’s Pakistan, resulting in the fallacy of confusing being a good Muslim with being a good Pakistani. The absurdity extends to negative stereotyping, with the most obvious example being using the word ‘Hindu’ when intending to refer to an ‘Indian’. An example of another semantic battle that is continuing at the moment is the vehemently divergent views on the use of the word maulvi by the president while referring to Nawaz Sharif. The major point of debate is whether the president has desecrated the word maulvi by employing it in an apparently pejorative manner. The specifics of the petty contest are irrelevant; however, the particular term chosen for the inordinate amount of emphasis should be disturbing.

The detailed particulars of the involvement of serving army officers with militant organisations have not been divulged yet, and if past record is anything to go by, probably never will be. However, it is important to realise that every time we use exclusionary, discriminatory religious rhetoric, we are inching towards those very militant terrorists that we seek to fight.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 29th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Banned outfit: Noose tightens on Hizb activists</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/195246/banned-outfit-noose-tightens-on-hizb-activists</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/195246/banned-outfit-noose-tightens-on-hizb-activists#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 24 Jun 11 03:52:05 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[qaiser.butt]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=195246</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Security agencies have started moving against activists of the banned Hizb-ut-Tahrir outfit.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Security agencies have started moving against activists of the banned Hizb-ut-Tahrir outfit, sources told The Express Tribune on Thursday.


Many of the activists have gone underground after raids on their houses in Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

The arrests are said to have been made both before and after the detention of Brigadier Ali Khan and four army majors earlier this week, for suspected links with the Hizb.

The Hizb’s cadre, comprising professionals like engineers, doctors and educated youth, had been distributing leaflets, brochures and pasting stickers in public places calling for action over the past month.

The Hizb also launched a similar campaign when the US called for a full-scale military assault on North Waziristan, urging the people to resist. The HT kept in touch with media outlets via SMS
on the terrorist attack on
the PNS Mehran in Karachi, accusing the US of masterminding the attack.

It regularly issued press releases urging people to “topple the government (and clear it) of traitors, conspirators and the American agents”.

The organisation also organised rallies “for establishing the rule of Khilafah in Pakistan and other parts of the Muslim world”.

Meanwhile, a press release issued by the Hizb said that officials of a secret agency had “kidnapped” two of its activists named Naeem Younas and Fahad from Rawalpindi last week. Naeem was arrested distributing a leaflet on the Abbottabad incursion, while Fahad was arrested from his house in the Bahria Town.

“(Plainclothesmen) took Younas, a telecom engineer to an unknown location,” the press release said.

Security officials, the Hizb said, started rounding up its people after it issued a pamphlet on the US raid in Abbottabad in which Osama bin Laden was killed.

According to the Hizb, it has filed a writ petition against the kidnapping of its activists and it plans to hold demonstration in Islamabad at Zero Point outside the press offices.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 24th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Lax Enforcement: Hizb ut-Tahrir free to preach its message</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/194509/lax-enforcement-hizb-ut-tahrir-free-to-preach-its-message</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/194509/lax-enforcement-hizb-ut-tahrir-free-to-preach-its-message#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 23 Jun 11 02:58:21 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[asad.kharal]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=194509</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The banned organisation appears to be free to distribute its propaganda material and promote its events.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Despite five military officers being detained and questioned for their links to the organisation, the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir appears to be free to distribute its propaganda material and promote its events, including at mosques just yards away from the police headquarters in Lahore and prominent locations in the federal capital.


Hizb ut-Tahrir’s objective is to overthrow the current Pakistani government and establish a worldwide caliphate that encompasses all Muslim-majority countries. While the organisation claims to be non-violent, it has often been accused of aiding and abetting acts of terrorism.

On Tuesday, the Pakistan Army confirmed that they had detained Brigadier Ali Khan, who served at the military headquarters in Rawalpindi, for his alleged links to the organisation. On Wednesday, reports emerged of four more military officers being detained for their ties to Hizb ut-Tahrir.

Yet the organisation seems to face no difficulty in disseminating its message to the public through posters, seminars, literature and even rallies. Hizb ut-Tahrir displayed hundreds of banners across the country in order to promote its nationwide “caliphate” rally on November 5, 2010. They have organised protests in front of the Lahore Press Club and even in parts of Islamabad.

Few cases have ever been registered against members of the organisation for participating in the activities of a banned group and the very few that do get reported are rarely ever prosecuted, with most Hizb ut-Tahrir members being released after a few days of detention and questioning.

Among the places that Hizb ut-Tahrir activists have been seen distributing their group’s materials are in front of the Masjid-e-Shuhda on Mall Road, Lahore, just yards away from the Punjab Assembly, the chief minister’s house and the Lahore police headquarters.

Hizb ut-Tahrir activists have been able to regularly distribute their press releases and pictures of the group’s events to virtually all major news organisations in Pakistan.

The group’s website is also still accessible in Pakistan and does not appear to have been blocked by the National Responses Centre of the Federal Investigation Agency.

 

 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 23rd, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Court Martial: Ex-officer sues against army decision</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/193895/court-martial-ex-officer-sues-against-army-decision</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/193895/court-martial-ex-officer-sues-against-army-decision#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 22 Jun 11 13:23:18 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=193895</guid>
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				<![CDATA[The convicted lieutenant colonel says he has been victimised for raising voice against corruption in his department.]]>
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				<![CDATA[A former senior army officer charged with links to banned organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir has moved the Lahore High Court against a decision of the Field General Court Martial (FGCM). The convicted lieutenant colonel Shahid Bashir – presently serving his sentence in solitary confinement in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail – says he has been victimised for raising voice against corruption in his department. The petitioner challenged the verdict of FGCM that handed down three-year rigorous imprisonment coupled with dismissal from service.  He asked the high court on Tuesday to set aside the military court’s decision and direct the provincial authorities to end his solitary confinement.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 22nd, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Army confirms brigadier’s arrest for extremist ties</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/193407/brigadier-detained-for-having-links-to-banned-organisation-report</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/193407/brigadier-detained-for-having-links-to-banned-organisation-report#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 22 Jun 11 02:00:15 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[kamran.yousaf]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=193407</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[DG ISPR Major Genera­l Athar Abbas says Brigad­ier Khan served at GHQ in Rawalpindi, linked to Hizbul Tehrir.]]>
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				<![CDATA[The army has detained Brigadier Ali Khan, an officer who had been serving at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, for his alleged ties to extremist organisations, in what appears to be the first such arrest of a senior officer that has been publicly acknowledged by the military.


It is not clear yet if the detention of Brig Khan is part of a larger ‘cleansing process’ or an isolated event in the powerful military, which has come under scathing criticism for its seemingly lax approach to elements who allegedly sympathise with militant groups.

The detained officer had been serving at the army’s headquarters in Rawalpindi for the last two years.

Major-General Athar Abbas, the military spokesperson, confirmed Brig Khan’s detention for his alleged ties to the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir, which seeks to overthrow what it deems to be the ‘pro-American’ government and replace it with an Islamic caliphate system in Pakistan. He is being interrogated by Military Intelligence, said Maj-Gen Abbas.

But the military was quick to dispel the impression that the detained officer was linked with the Taliban or investigations into the Abbottabad  raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.“The issue is being blown out of proportions. In the past several such military officials were detained and even court-martialled for having links with Hizb ut-Tehrir,” said a military official, who requested not to be named.

Maj-Gen Abbas said that Brig Khan had been under surveillance for the past several months and was arrested last month when his contacts with the banned outfit were confirmed.

“We don’t allow any other cult in the military other than the military cult,” Abbas told The Express Tribune. “We have zero-tolerance for any extremist or sectarian ideology in the army.” An unnamed senior military officer told the BBC that senior officers were both surprised and “disturbed” when a secret report was presented to them about the “inappropriate” activities of the brigadier.

The officer is known to have a “brilliant” service record and comes from a family with three generations of military service.

Brig Ali’s father was a junior commissioned officer, his younger brother is a colonel serving in the intelligence service. His son and son-in-law are both army captains.

A military source told the BBC that Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani had asked for a briefing about the brigadier, and after being satisfied about the weight of the “evidence”, ordered the arrest himself.

However, Brig Khan’s family disputed the charges calling him ‘totally innocent.’

“These allegations are totally rubbish,” his wife told the AP.  She said her husband went missing on May 5, and she has been searching for information about his whereabouts since. Authorities had assured her that he would soon return, she said.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 22nd, 2011.]]>
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			<title>7 alleged Hizb ut Tahrir activists sent to jail</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/156551/7-alleged-hizb-ut-tahrir-activists-sent-to-jail</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/156551/7-alleged-hizb-ut-tahrir-activists-sent-to-jail#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 26 Apr 11 05:33:28 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[zeeshan.mujahid]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=156551</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Two of them have been allowed to sit their exams.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Monday sent seven alleged Hizb ut Tahrir activists into judicial custody till April 29.


ATC administrative judge Justice Maqbool Baqar also directed the prison authorities to make sure that two of the accused sit their exams.

Earlier, the investigating officer (IO) moved an application to send the accused to judicial custody as they have completed the investigations. The IO said that the accused are not disclosing the residential addresses of their 40 to 50 accomplices, who are absconding in this case. These men had staged a demonstration on April 17 at Regal Chowk, demanding the establishment of the “Khilafat” or Caliphate system in Pakistan.

The accused men, Muhammad Waqas, Shafaat Ali Khan, Muhammad Rafiq, Saad Ali, Hizbullah Ansari, Muzammil Ali Khan and Ghulam Mujtaba, were sent into judicial custody while the IO was asked to submit a report with supporting material, if any, on April 29.

The jail superintendent was also asked to make sure that Ansari sits his written exam at the NED University of Engineering and Technology on May 2 between 2 pm and 5 pm. Saad was also allowed to sit his exam at the University of Karachi on April 28 between 12 pm and 2:30 pm.

The court ordered that both the accused will receive help in preparing for their exam and their family will be allowed to bring them preparation material.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 26th, 2011.]]>
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