Pakistan arrests more Arabs, Afghans suspected of ties with al-Qaida

By Munir Ahmad

Associated Press

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Police raided more suspected al-Qaida hide-outs, arresting 16 people in an ongoing crackdown against Osama bin Laden’s terror network in Pakistan, officials said Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the country’s major Islamic parties called on the government to end military cooperation with the United States in the war on terrorism and announced plans for nationwide protests against Israel’s military offensive against the Palestinians – a move the clerics sought to link to U.S. policies.

The latest raids occurred Monday afternoon at two houses in Lahore, Pakistan’s second-largest city, a senior police official said. Two of the 16 people arrested are Pakistanis and the other 14 are foreigners, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. He said most of the foreigners are Arabs – Saudis, Libyans and Syrians – but “a few” are Afghans.

All admitted they had entered Pakistan after the collapse of Taliban rule in Afghanistan last year, Lahore police chief Javed Noor said. Other police officials said they expected further raids on suspected al-Qaida hide-outs in Punjab province, which includes Lahore.

Officials said none of the 16 were believed to be major figures in the terrorist network. However, one suspect told interrogators that Taliban and al-Qaida fighters were regrouping near the Afghan village of Ziruk in Paktika province, about 20 miles from the Pakistani border.

Monday’s raids were carried out exclusively by Pakistani police, authorities said. On Thursday, joint FBI and Pakistani teams raided hide-outs in Lahore and Faisalabad, arresting about 60 suspected al-Qaida and Taliban fugitives, including one of bin Laden’s chief lieutenants, Abu Zubaydah.

In Washington, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Zubaydah’s arrest was a “very serious blow” to the terrorist network but that Americans were still threatened by bin Laden’s followers.

Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf praised the raids Tuesday during a news conference on his first-ever visit to Afghanistan. Musharraf said the raids showed that Pakistani authorities were capable of hunting down al-Qaida and Taliban fugitives without cross-border “hot pursuit” operations by U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

Acknowledging U.S. intelligence assistance, Musharraf said it was “Pakistani law enforcement agencies and Pakistani intelligence organizations that moved against them very successfully.”

Pakistan had been a strong supporter of the Afghan Taliban and had clandestinely supported Islamic extremist groups elsewhere until Musharraf reversed that policy following the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States.

Musharraf allowed U.S. forces use of Pakistani bases and airspace to pursue the military campaign that toppled the Taliban in December. Pakistani intelligence also shared information on the Taliban and al-Qaida with its partners in the U.S.-led coalition.

All that outraged the country’s small but vocal Islamic religious parties, which organized rallies last year in an unsuccessful bid to force Musharraf to abandon his support for the United States.

On Tuesday, five major religious parties announced plans to resume their campaign against Musharraf, using public discontent over Israeli actions against the Palestinians to try to drum up opposition to the military-led government and its American allies.

At a joint news conference, the parties demanded an end to Pakistan’s military cooperation with the United States and urged Musharraf to order U.S. troops out of the country.

Maulana Shah Ahmed Noorani, leader of the six-party Muttehida Majlis-e-Amal, or United Action Committee, claimed the presence of U.S. troops undermines national independence and sovereignty and constitutes “a threat to our religion and culture.”

Noorani also announced nationwide rallies Friday to show solidarity with the Palestinians, saying “Israel is killing Palestinian men, women and children with American weapons.”