Good NYT article quoting Pakistani analysts on the arrest and its implications;
Pakistan Detains Senior Officer on Suspicion of Militant Ties
By SALMAN MASOOD
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A serving brigadier general in the Pakistani Army has been detained on suspicion of links with an extremist group, according to an army spokesman.
The detention of the officer, Brig. Gen. Ali Khan, raises serious concerns about the infiltration of elements sympathetic to Islamic extremists in the higher ranks of the army. While the lower ranks of the army, air force and navy have long been known to have elements sympathetic to the Taliban and extremist organizations, the arrest of General Khan is the first known arrest of a senior army official.
News of his detention comes at a sensitive time for the army, when morale in its ranks is at a historical ebb after the May 2 night raid by United States commandos that killed Osama bin Laden, and after an attack on Pakistan’s largest naval base by militants who appear to have had inside assistance.
General Khan was serving at the General Headquarters of the Pakistan Army in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, outside the capital, Islamabad. He was picked up for questioning by the Special Investigative Branch of the Pakistan Army on May 6, but the announcement of the arrest was made Tuesday after an army spokesman confirmed that he had been detained to the BBC Urdu Web site.
Maj. Gen Athar Abbas, the spokesman, confirmed the detention to The New York Times, saying General Khan had links with Hizb-ut-Tahrir, a group that is banned in Pakistan.
Hizb-ut-Tahrir identifies itself as an Islamist party, which rejects democracy and is striving to establish a Muslim caliphate, or global Islamic empire, and is active in over 40 countries, according to its Web site. Hizb-ut-Tahrir claims to be nonviolent and different from Al Qaeda but operates in a gray area where global jihadi sympathies lurk.
The group has managed to maintain its presence in Pakistan despite being outlawed by the government of former President Pervez Musharraf. It follows a strategy of recruiting members from the urban, educated and professional segments of the society and is also known to have spread its influence in the ranks of the military in recent years.
Apart from organizing underground meetings and seminars, the group has used text messages on cellphones and social networking sites to spread its message. A recent text message sent out by the media office of Hizb-ut-Tahrir on June 9 stated: “Remove the traitors amongst the civilian and military leadership. Fulfill your obligation by establishing Khilafah,” meaning the caliphate.
A 2010 letter by the group urged the members of the country’s armed forces to revolt against the country’s top civilian and military leadership for their alliance with the United States.
Despite media reports and anecdotal evidence of Hizb-ut-Tahrir’s growing penetration of the ranks of the Pakistani military, there has been no apparent effort at a purge. It remains unclear if the arrest of the serving general would lead to more arrests.
General Khan was posted for the last two years at the army’s general headquarters in the regulations directorate, which mainly deals with the human resource management issues of the army. He comes from a military background and has relatives and immediate family members serving in the army.
Shabbir Ahmad, a brother of the detained general, denied in an interview that his brother had links with Hizb-ur-Tahrir or any other extremist organization. “Just to please America and to fool the Pakistani people, such allegations have been leveled against him,” he said. “He did nothing wrong and just had a religious bent.”
Mr. Ahmad said that General Khan had gone to the United States for higher military training seven to eight years ago, but that he had been denied a promotion because of his religious leanings. General Khan had spent 33 years in the army and was a decorated officer, he said.
“He was due to retire next month,” Mr. Ahmad added. “What could he do in the next fifteen or so days?”
He said no charges had been filed by the army authorities, who have told the family that investigations are ongoing.
Analysts said the arrest was exceptional and could indicate new resolve on the part of the military to weed out extremists, at least in the higher ranks, though the extent of the problem — and the military’s ultimate response to it — remained unclear.
“At this high level, this is rather an isolated incident,” said Syed Riffat Hussain, a military and political analyst based in Islamabad. “There were a lot of people who were under surveillance after the 2009 attack on the General Headquarters and after the recent attack on the naval base in Karachi. This arrest shows that the army is turning inward.”
“There has been mounting concern about what has been known as ‘inside threat,’ ” said Mr. Hussain, who also heads the department of defense and strategic studies at Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad.
“By announcing this arrest, the army has shown its resolve to fight extremism. There is a greater sense of transparency,” he said.
Talat Masood, a retired lieutenant general and a military analyst based in Islamabad, said: “The arrest shows that the allegations made by the United States have come true but in a way, the arrest is good news also as it shows that the army is now moving against such elements.”
“There have been incidents in the past when one or two odd guys have been found involved in acts against the state,” said General Masood. “If it’s an odd phenomenon and has been detected then it is good news. The arrest reflects on the discipline of the army even if it is an isolated incident. But if there are more officers with such affiliations, then it is very serious and the army leadership would have to move very carefully.”
General Masood said the arrest would force the military to reexamine its vetting process for the higher ranks, much on the lines that security clearance is given to personnel working for the country’s nuclear program.
“The military would also have to assess how much damage has been done by the permeation of such elements in the rank and file,” General Masood said.
General Masood said the arrest and its subsequent developments would be a litmus test of the military’s seriousness to bring to justice those officers who violate its discipline. “It is very important how the military handles this case and announces a punishment for the indiscipline,” he said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/22/world/asia/22pakistan.html
