Islamist Relief Groups Barred

[NoEscape]

Islamist Relief Groups Barred
By REHMAT MEHSUD

PESHAWAR, Pakistan—Pakistan moved to bar banned Islamist organizations from offering flood relief, a senior provincial government official said, an effort to close an ideological front in the battle to give aid to some six million homeless Pakistanis.

Bashir Bilour, senior minister for the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provincial government, said his administration had sent letters to senior district administrators ordering them to ban proscribed Islamist groups from offering relief to survivors of Pakistan's worst flooding in memory.

"This is a crackdown that we have initiated on our part. We have started implementation of clear-cut orders regarding control of terrorist organizations that are banned," he said. "You will see results on the ground shortly."

The government says Islamist groups that were banned under pressure from the U.S. in 2002 were active under new names following the flooding in some parts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, a province that borders the tribal regions where the Pakistan Taliban are engaged in a war with the country's military.

There was some concern the groups could draw more local support for filling a vacuum before government and military response reached stranded villages.

But U.S. officials say that as the relief work picked up pace—with 60,000 soldiers now in the field to offer help and government-run camps mushrooming—those fears have receded.

Mr. Bilour said the ban also extended to the groups' political activities in the province.

One group active in flood relief is Jamaat-ud-Dawah, a charity organization the United Nations says is a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba, a group banned by Pakistan in 2002. India blames Lashkar-e-Taiba for attacks on Mumbai that killed more than 160 people in 2008. Pakistan backed the group as a proxy militia to fight Indian soldiers in Kashmir but says it has cut ties with it since it was banned.

Link: Pakistan Bars Banned Groups From Aiding Flood Victims - WSJ.com

 

[NoEscape]

Do not accept aid from infidels: terror group
SUKKUR, Pakistan - Raging flood waters bore down on Sindh province, home to Pakistan's biggest city and commercial hub, Karachi, yesterday after killing at least 1,600 people and leaving four million homeless to the north.

Officials in Karachi scrambled to prevent loss of life and more destruction to the agriculture industry as the waters spread from the northwest to the Punjab farmlands then down to Sindh, engulfing entire villages.

"What we see is a sea of people in need," said Manuel Bessler, head of Pakistan's UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs(OCHA). "We are afraid it will get worse before it gets better."

President Asif Ali Zardari faced criticism over the government's handling of Pakistan's worst flooding disaster in 80 years and his decision to travel abroad despite the catastrophe. Victims claim they are receiving no government help and Islamic charities, some with suspected links to terrorists groups, have stepped in.

Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), regarded as a global terrorist group, and its charitable wing Falah-i-Insaniat, formerly known as Jamaat-ud-Dawa, have set up relief camps in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The group is providing shelter, food and medical aid to more than 20,000 people a day, the group's vice-chairman said yesterday.

Mian Mohammed Adil said it was the duty of all Muslims to help the millions of people affected by the floods but Western "infidels" had no business in the worst-hit areas.

"We're working to win the pleasure of God and to enter paradise after death," he said.

"Infidels who do not believe in the presence of God should be hated and Muslims should fight against them. The people should not accept aid from the infidels like the U.S. and its allies but the Muslims should come forward to help their brothers and sisters."

His group has established food-distribution points and field clinics in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh.

Although LeT is banned in Pakistan, the Falah-i-Insaniat remains a high-profile and popular charity, which came to prominence through its relief work during the 2005 earthquake in Kashmir.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty also reported on the rise of groups linked to Islamic extremists providing aid, saying, "The perceived failure of the government has opened new vistas for pro-Taliban religious-political parties and outlawed militant organizations to win the hearts and minds of locals in this war-weary region.

"These organizations have already established camps in flood-hit areas in Nowshera, Charsadda, and Peshawar, as well as in the Swat region. In addition, they are actively soliciting donations to support their work from across the country, thus creating the impression nationally that they are more concerned about flood victims than the government is."

Yesterday, Pakistan began evacuating half a million people from flood-risk areas in the south.

Near Sukkur in Sindh, the situation looked desperate.

"There is nothing but just water all around us," said a Reuters cameraman who travelled for several miles by boat with soldiers just southeast of Sukkur.

Children helped parents to set up shelters of plastic sheeting on a roadside as they waited for rescue or aid.

"I've lost my house, food. We have nothing. Nobody has come to us," said villager Ali Nawaz.

Determining the overall costs of the floods will not be possible until authorities survey areas where the floods have swallowed up entire villages. But the disaster is likely to have a crippling effect on the economy.

The United States yesterday pledged an extra US$25-million in flood aid, to add to the US$10-million it had already promised. Canada has pledged $2-million in aid, the British government has pledged $8-million, Australia $4.4-million and China $1.5-million.

 

[NoEscape]

'Impotent' Pak Govt. powerless to stop 'terror outfit' JuD's 'charity' rampage
ANI

London, Aug.22 (ANI): Mocking the ban imposed by the Pakistan government on it, the Jamaat-ud-Daawa (JuD), the charity wing of the dreaded terror group-Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), is running relief camps in the flood-hit north western part of the country and providing the victims food, medicines and money.


The JuD, under its latest humanitarian face Falah-e-Insaniat, has established numerous relief camps in Khyber Pakhtunkwa province in its bid to push through its anti-west ideology amidst the survivors of the devastating deluge.


While the Gilani government has been struggling to collect funds for the flood-victims, the JuD, which masterminded the November 2008 Mumbai carnage, claimed that it raises 120 million rupees daily, which is equal to the total amount the Prime Minister relief fund has with it.


Falah-e-Insaniat vice-president Mian Adil claimed that the group has raised nearly a million pound for the flood victims, ridiculing the Pakistan government's relief efforts.


"We are raising that every day," Adil said laughingly while referring to the amount collected through the Prime Minister's relief fund.


He said the people of country do not trust the government and added that the JuD had proved its worth during 2005 earthquake relief and rescue operations.


"We have thousands of volunteers, hundreds of collection points. The government can do nothing compared with us. We have the people of Pakistan - good Muslims - behind us. No-one trusts the government. No will give their money to them. But they saw us at work during the 2005 earthquake and know we will help again," The Telegraph quoted Adil, as saying.


He insisted the aid was delivered without a political message, but refused to condemn the actions of the LeT.


"We are just a welfare organisation. But if you want me to call the jihadi groups terrorists then I will not. They are fighting for freedom," Adil stressed.


Earlier this week, President Asif Ali Zardari expressed fears of terrorists taking advantage of the crisis to push through their ulterior motives of gathering public support to weaken the government, and analysts also warned that these 'terror' charities dispensed ideology with their aid and have been able to capitalise on an unpopular government's failure to act decisively.


"These organisations operate every day at the grass roots so of course they can get in fast. It is now up to the government and secular groups to move in and take over," said Talat Masood, a noted military and political analyst. (ANI)

 

[Leviza]

thats bad anyone as a person can help humanity ... if Pakistan can accept aid from india the worst enemy ever then these so called terror groups are actually working on ground to improve life of general people .....

Pakistan Gov should say stop to american dictations now

 

[NoEscape]

thats bad anyone as a person can help humanity ... if Pakistan can accept aid from india the worst enemy ever then these so called terror groups are actually working on ground to improve life of general people .....

Pakistan Gov should say stop to american dictations now

Not clear Leviza, which action seemed BAD to you:
a) Banning Terror Groups by GoP or,
b) Terror Groups warning people not to take aid from so called Infidels.

 

[Condor]

Pakistan Gov should say stop to american dictations now

Correction: Stoop

 

[AliFarooq]

Well people have 2 choices bare the wrath of terror groups, or starve to death...
i'll go with option 1 and so will every 1 else starving.

 

[GentlemanObserver]

'Impotent' Pak Govt. powerless to stop 'terror outfit' JuD's 'charity' rampage

Im sorry but that line just highlights everything wrong with ANI' article.

 

[NoEscape]

Well people have 2 choices bare the wrath of terror groups, or starve to death...
i'll go with option 1 and so will every 1 else starving.

Dear, just by accidental spelling mistake, you have shown the right way to deal with extremists !!!