Mystery of Army officer’s arrest deepens

[sparklingway]

Mystery of Army officer’s arrest deepens​

Wednesday, May 26, 2010
By Umar Cheema

ISLAMABAD: The mystery behind the arrest of a Major of Pakistan Army Signals Corps has deepened as his younger brother, a software engineer, has also been picked up in a wave of detentions being made to unearth the contacts of Faisal Shehzad, who allegedly staged the failed terrorist attempt in Times Square, New York.

Although, the ISPR says the Major was arrested on ‘disciplinary grounds’ having nothing to do with the Faisal Shehzad case, there is no explanation why his younger brother has been taken into custody while he was on way to his office in his car.

Maj Adnan, according to his relatives, tendered resignation in November last year but was relieved in April, 20 days before his arrest on May 14. His last posting was in Rahim Yar Khan. But the ISPR statement is in contradiction with the family version, which said, “The officer was asked to resign” and that he had not volunteered to do so.

Qamar Ejaz, his younger brother employed as computer engineer in Software Technology Park (Islamabad), was picked up five days after Adnan’s arrest. Both the brothers were arrested after the detention of Shahid Hussain, Salman Ashraf and Raza Ahmad. Shahid Hussain, who did his MBA from the US and is a financial analyst with Telenor Company, was picked up from his house in I-10 on May 6. Salman Ashraf and Raza Ahmad, whose fathers co-owned an upscale catering service, were arrested on May 10. Salman is also a US graduate. Khunbal Akhtar, a graphic designer with elite background like others, was taken into custody from his house in Rawalpindi on May 17. Shoaib Moghal, an alleged go-between Taliban and Faisal Shehzad, was arrested from Islamabad where he had a large computer dealership. Although, the family sources confirmed that Major Adnan and his younger brother were devout Muslims but vehemently denied their links with the militants. Adnan had memorized the Holy Quran after joining the Army as a commissioned officer and his younger brother was taking Dars-e-Niazmi classes these days in Faisal Masjid, family sources said, requesting anonymity as they were in trauma in wake of the arrests. His family migrated from Azad Kashmir to Rawalpindi in 1950s.

Adnan and Qamar are the only two male children of Sarwar Ejaz, now 70, who spent his prime age in Europe and USA. Presently admitted in the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology (AFIC), he had previously suffered paralysis attacks twice in the space of four years and is only remaining male member of the family following his sons’ arrest.

Sarwar Ejaz lodged FIR No 492 with Civil Lines police station about the arrest of Maj Adnan on May 14 and it was quite revealing. It said some people in plainclothes stormed into their house located in Harley Street, made physical assaults on Maj Adnan, bundled him into double cabin Toyota GF631 and fled away. Maj Adnan rang at his father’s phone half-an-hour later, advising him not to seek anybody’s help and that he would return soon. But the family is so far clueless about Adnan, 31, father of a daughter. Instead, his younger brother was also picked up on May 19 when he left home for office in the morning. Another FIR No 514 was registered with the same police station.

According to the FIR about Adnan, his resignation was in process. A family source said Adnan was frustrated due to financial constraints and would always take extra money from his father to feed his family, as the monthly salary was insufficient. Taking cue from a friend with same qualification and earning many times more than he, Adnan thought to resign, family sources said. When he was in the process of being relieved, he signed into a project with a construction company in Lahore partnering with two other friends. Responding to a question that FIR said his resignation was in process, the family source said he was relieved but facilities like medical cards and others were not taken back as yet by the Army.

As far as the arrest of 34-year old Shahid Hussain, he was taken in double cabin Toyota like Maj Adnan. Those who came to pick him introduced themselves as Intelligence Bureau officers and declined to show their identity when asked, Shahid’s wife told The News. “It is enough what you have been told. Don’t ask for more details,” one of them said as Shahid’s wife insisted on showing identity.

As they picked him along, Shahid’s four-year daughter started hitting her head with the wall, crying. One officer promised her father would be back in an hour but it never happened. “We don’t seek any favor but we should at least be informed about the charge-sheet furnished,” said Shahid’s wife as she fears the future of her husband may be like other missing persons.

 

[sparklingway]

Evidence mounts that Pakistani major spoke to Times Square suspect
A Pakistani law enforcement source says the major had cellphone contact with Faisal Shahzad just before the bombing attempt.

By Alex Rodriguez and Richard A. Serrano, Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Islamabad, Pakistan, and Washington

Pakistani and U.S. investigators cited growing evidence Saturday that a Pakistani army major had been in cellphone contact with a man who allegedly attempted to bomb Times Square in New York, including the possibility that they spoke shortly before the failed bombing.

U.S. officials said they were aware of cellphone traffic between Faisal Shahzad and the unidentified Pakistani military officer, bolstering reports days earlier from Pakistani law enforcement sources.

A Pakistani law enforcement source added detail Saturday, saying the major had cellphone contact with Shahzad on May 1, the day of the botched bombing, including a conversation that occurred as the Pakistani American was allegedly parking his SUV rigged with propane tanks, fertilizer and fireworks.

Investigators are keenly interested in the major's role in the bombing attempt because he had more than one cellphone conversation with Shahzad from the time the suspect allegedly loaded his Nissan Pathfinder with bomb components to the moment he parked the vehicle and walked away, said the Pakistani source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the investigation.

U.S. officials said they could not confirm that timing of the conversations between Shahzad and the major. U.S. investigators have limited information about the major, who is in custody in Pakistan, and are negotiating with the Pakistani government to interrogate him, they said.

The Pakistani source said the sequence of phone calls suggests that the major was aware of the plan that Shahzad is accused of trying to carry out — detonating a bomb in one of New York's prime tourist magnets — though investigators are still trying to determine the major's exact role.

Investigators know of at least one meeting between the major and Shahzad in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, sometime in 2009, the Pakistani source said. Authorities have previously said they believed that Shahzad arrived in Pakistan from the U.S. last summer and later went to Pakistan's tribal areas, where he got training in bomb-making at a Taliban camp.

The bomb was poorly constructed and had little chance of causing a large number of deaths, suggesting that its maker was unable to follow through with whatever training he did receive.

Although Pakistani authorities have been cooperating with U.S. investigators in ferreting out Pakistanis linked to Shahzad, they have tried to downplay any ties he might have to the Taliban, instead portraying him as a lone wolf.

Three weeks into the investigation, however, there appears to be little doubt of the Pakistani Taliban's strong link to Shahzad and the bombing attempt.

Pakistani law enforcement sources have said that, while Shahzad was in Pakistan last summer, he met with a Taliban facilitator at least three times. At one of those meetings, the Taliban member provided an undisclosed sum of money because Shahzad had said he was running out of cash. U.S. officials familiar with the case have said that the Taliban gave Shahzad about $15,000 to finance the attack.

A Taliban member who said he was familiar with Shahzad's travels in Pakistan's tribal areas last year said Taliban facilitators transported Shahzad from the northwestern city of Peshawar into the Mohmand region in the tribal belt along the border with Afghanistan.

There, he said, Shahzad was taken to Omar Khalid, the Pakistani Taliban's leader in Mohmand, before getting five days of training at a Taliban camp near the village of Baizai, near the border.

It remains unclear whether the major had any connection with the Taliban. However, his role in the case could become an embarrassment for the Pakistani military, which regards the Taliban as a formidable threat to the country and has launched large-scale offensives against the militant group in the country's restive Swat Valley and in several tribal belt regions, including South Waziristan, Bajaur and Orakzai.

The army has denied that any officer has been arrested in connection with the Shahzad case and said that the major in question was arrested for disciplinary reasons. It also described him as a retired army major. However, the law enforcement source said the major was in the army at the time of his arrest.

The major is one of at least 13 people who have been arrested or detained in Pakistan in connection with the Shahzad case. Pakistani authorities have also arrested Salman Ashraf Khan, the co-owner of a catering company that serves embassies and large companies.

It is unclear how Khan might be tied to the Times Square bombing attempt. On Friday, the U.S. Embassy issued a warning about the catering company, Hanif Rajput Catering Service, saying that it had links to terrorist groups.

alex.rodriguez@latimes.com

richard.serrano@latimes.com

Staff writer David S. Cloud in Washington and a special correspondent in Pakistan contributed to this report.

 

[Mansanpk2009]

This is called "Topi Drama". I suspect Shehzad was definitely an operative of CIA and he would have been used to link up Pak Army with the International terrorism. The job is well served and more importantly the bomb Shehzad was allegedly using to create terror could not explode due to bad engineering. It is highly unfortunate that our Army has served American interest and pulled itself to its knees. On one signal of America, Pak Army destroyed 100s of villages in Northern Areas in the hunt of Taliban. Numerous people are missing and are believed to be in the custody of ISI. Pakistanis all over the country are living in the state of shock where law does not seems to be prevailing. Americans are stationed in Pakistan and they use ugly tactics to trap innocent people. Facebook and other social websites are being used by these Americans of US Army's Cyber wing to find the angry Pakistanis frustrated due to stubborn attitude of Army and the Government by not stopping American influence in the region. Those people are reported by these Americans and they quickly vanish with the blink of an eye thanks to our agencies who are doing the foot licking service for our enemies. I am sorry to say that the case of Missing Pakistanis and full fledged permission to Americans to carry out Drone attacks is endangering the support for our Army which we are always proud on!

 

[sparklingway]

Former Army major cleared in NY plot

ISLAMABAD: A retired army major said on Saturday he had been cleared of any wrongdoing after Pakistani intelligence released him from custody in connection with the attempted car-bombing in NY’s Times Square.

Adnan Ahmad and his brother were among at least 11 people that Pakistan has rounded up since the failed attack May 1. Army’s spokesman Maj-Gen Athar Abbas confirmed for the first time on Saturday that Ahmad was dismissed from the military because he had ties to banned organisations.

Reached at a Rawalpindi residence via phone on Saturday, Ahmad said he was fine and that he expected his brother to be released shortly. “It was confusion. I am now back with my family,” the former major said.

Meanwhile, a US judge has ordered the deportation of a Pakistani man, Aftab Ali Khan, arrested in Massachusetts two weeks ago during the probe into the botched Times Square bombing in NYC.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

So nothing more than a 'media induced mystery' eh.

Honestly, how many times do these 'high level intelligence and government anonymous sources' have to be wrong before journalists start fact checking a bit more and being a bit more objective in how they write their articles?

 

[sparklingway]

So nothing more than a 'media induced mystery' eh.

Honestly, how many times do these 'high level intelligence and government anonymous sources' have to be wrong before journalists start fact checking a bit more and being a bit more objective in how they write their articles?

There's doubt left in my mind though. I guess I didn't mention the following. The said major sb was discharged for being in contact with a "banned outfit" and specifically an outfit supposedly involved in this and some other attacks/attempts.

Pakistan frees ex-army major held in NY plot probe

ASIF SHAHZAD
Published: Yesterday

ISLAMABAD (AP) - A retired army major said Saturday he had been cleared of any wrongdoing after Pakistani intelligence released him from custody in connection with the attempted car bombing in New York's Times Square.

Adnan Ahmad and his brother were among at least 11 people that Pakistan has rounded up since the failed attack May 1. Two other suspects face allegations of involvement in the plot, but no one in Pakistan has been charged.

Ahmad's detention was especially sensitive because of ongoing U.S. suspicion that elements in Pakistan's military and intelligence world who are sympathetic to Islamist causes have assisted would-be jihadists.

Pakistan's army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas confirmed for the first time Saturday that Ahmad was dismissed from the military because he had ties to banned organizations, but he would not elaborate.

The main suspect in the car bomb case, Pakistani-American Faisal Shahzad, is being held by U.S. authorities. Shahzad is the son of a former Pakistani air force officer.

Ahmad was let go on Friday upon orders from higher-ups, an intelligence official confirmed on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record.

He would not give any details about the man's detention or what information it yielded.

Ahmad went missing May 10, and his brother, computer engineer Qamar Ahmad, disappeared a couple of days later.

Reached at a Rawalpindi residence via phone Saturday, Ahmad told The Associated Press that he was fine and that he expected his brother to be released shortly.

"It was confusion. I am now back with my family," the former major said. "It is a proof that it was just a misunderstanding. They have cleared me."

He declined to discuss anything about his detention or his ties to Shahzad. Intelligence officials have said he was linked to people who knew Shahzad.

Ahmad also would not discuss the circumstances surrounding his departure from the army or exactly when it happened.

Intelligence officials have said he bought his way out in the last two months because of a "disagreement" with the army's policies. But the army's chief spokesman said Ahmad was forced out.

"He was dismissed from service for his links with proscribed organizations," Abbas said.

U.S. officials have accused Shahzad of working with the Pakistani Taliban to organize the car bomb, a rudimentary device that failed to detonate. Shahzad was arrested two days after the failed attack as he tried to fly out of the U.S. on a Dubai-bound plane.

The continued, secretive detention of suspects in Pakistan has worried their families as well as human rights officials who have criticized such actions by the country's powerful and largely unaccountable intelligence agencies.

The connection with the "banned outfit" was mentioned first in

Army Major sacked, held
Published: May 16, 2010

ISLAMABAD (Online) - Pak Army has sacked and arrested an officer for violating the discipline. However, the military sources are saying that the move is not linked with Faisal Shahzad case.
Sources say Major Adnan of Signal Corps was involved in suspicious activities and the intelligence agencies have shifted him to an unknown location.
They further said the officer did not abide by the rules and regulations of Pak Army and his sacking came after his seniors complained about him to the higher authorities. Sources are also saying that Adnan’s arrest is an internal affair of Pak Army.

PS:- I do not find the lack of responses on this issue to be unusual.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

PS:- I do not find the lack of responses on this issue to be unusual.

SW, given the very little that is known about the detention, there really is not much to say.

The Indians will say 'aha Pakistan Army supports terrorism', the Pakistanis will say the Indians are delusional and just looking for an opportunity to malign the PA, and the fact that there is nothing much to go on in this case means that all we'll have is a flame war.

So thank heavens for limited responses on a potentially inflammatory issue with very limited information available on it I say.

 

[Comet]

Along with other problems we have a severe problem in our mainstream journalism. They are not as professional as they ought to be
(Just an Observation)