Four Islamic groups suspected to be behind Hearthrow plot

[Mehtab Singh]

http://www.samachar.com/showurl.htm?rurl=h...~Hearthrow~plot

Four Islamic groups suspected to be behind Hearthrow plot

Islamabad, Aug 12. (PTI): Investigators probing the plot to blow up several aircrafts from Britain to US, suspected the involvement of four Islamic militant groups including Pakistan- based Lashkar-e-Toyaba and Sunni extremist outfit Lashkar- e-Jhangvi.

The probe revealed that funds provided by a UK-based Islamic charity for earthquake relief in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, (PoK) has apparently been used to target planes, media report here said today.

"The links of the arrested suspect could not be confirmed, but the sources said intelligence agencies had put four Islamic organisations on the watch list and they included two UK-based outfits Al Mahajroon and Hizbul Tehrir, and two Pakistani organisations Lashkar-i-Taiba (LeT) and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, (LJ)," the daily Dawn reported.

Also Rauf Rashid, the British national of the Pakistan origin, officially identified as the key suspect by Pakistan yesterday for providing the tip off about the plot to blow the US bound aircraft with liquid explosives as the father of Tayyab Rauf, a suspect who was arrested in Britain in connection with 7/7 London bombings, it said.

During the interrogation, Rashid Rauf unveiled the terrorism plot aiming to destroy at least ten passenger aircraft in the UK, it quoted officials as saying. The information was shared with the UK Home Land Security department that resulted in a raid in which 21 suspects were arrested in London on Thursday, it said.

Another newspaper Daily Times reported investigations revealed that a UK-based Islamic charity group remitted a huge amount of money to three individuals having bank accounts in Mirpur, PoK in December last year with the sole purpose of helping its recipients and their organisations carry out the plan to bomb the aircraft in the UK.

The links with LeT, which was banned by Pakistan, was disquieting for Islamabad as the outfit has already been blamed for Mumbai bomb blasts last month. New Delhi has been demanding Pakistan to take stern action against the Jamaat- ud-Dawa, (JUD), an Islamic charity organisation, which India says is the re-incarnation of the banned LeT.

A day before the plot to blow up the planes unfolded in London, Pakistan police in a mid night swoop put the LeT founder leader and head of JUD Hafeez Sayeed under house arrest. His detention on August 10 was perceived to be because of pressure from India, though JUD spokesman Yahya Mujahid denied any link.

According to Mujahid, Sayeed was arrested to prevent him from taking part in a rally planned to be held by the group on August 14, Pakistan's Independence Day.

JUD, which was officially kept on watchlist along with another banned Jaish-e-Muhammad had officially been allowed by the Pakistan Government last year to take part in the relief work in the quake-affected areas of PoK and NWFP, during which the two outfit reportedly received and spent large amount of money for relief and rehabilitation.

India and the US criticised Pakistan for permitting the outfits to take part in the relief work.

When contacted for his reaction by the PTI here, Mujahid, who is based in Lahore, denied any link between Sayeed's house detention and the plot to blow up planes. He blamed sections of the media for linking the two.

While claiming that LeT and JUD are separate outfits with no links, he saw no connection between JUD and the reports of misuse of funds meant quake relief for the plot to blow up planes.

The names Lashkar and JUD appeared in the media during 7/7 bombings, as some of the militants involved in that plot reportedly studied in the madrasas run by the group.

The detail of the plot to blow up planes emerged from the monitoring of Rashid Rauf's phone and internet for about six months, the Dawn report said. It said security agencies have so far arrested nine suspects and seven of them were nabbed on Friday from different parts of the country, including Islamabad, for their alleged links with the London terrorism plot.

Other reports said 24 persons have been held but Pakistan officials declined to give numbers. Three of the suspects were caught from Islamabad Airport on Friday morning, but their identification and details of their destinations could not be ascertained, the newspaper reports said.

Another four were apprehended from a village near Jhelum in a raid that was conducted on the information of the British High Commission in Islamabad. Out of the seven suspects, two have been identified as Mohammad Al Ghadar and Ahmed Al Khan.

Several of plotters had travelled to Pakistan within the last couple weeks and had met at least one suspected Al Qaeda operative, most likely Rashid Rauf, the reports said.

British intelligence agency MI-5 alerted Pakistani authorities about Rauf and his trail was later picked up by the ISI.

The plotters were planning to carry out a dry run of the operation in the next days when they were rounded up.

"Had the dry run that included an attempt to board the flights at the same time proved successful, they were to carry out the real attacks within days of the dry run", it quoted officials as saying. "It has all the hallmarks of Al Qaeda and Rauf has had linkages across the border in Afghanistan," they said.

The Daily Times, in its report, said money has been transferred to the bank accounts of three Kashmiris in POK, which was later used to finance the operation to blow up the planes.

The Muslim Charity of UK remitted not so long ago a huge amount of money under the head of "earthquake relief" to the accounts of three individuals in three different banks-- Saudi Pak Bank, Standard Chartered and Habib Bank Ltd. One of the branches of banks functioned from PoK because of a huge number of Kashmiris from PoK were based in UK.

The reports said the money was transferred from the UK to banks in PoK through Barclays.

Two of the recipients of the transaction are British citizens of Kashmiri origin, while the third is an Islamabad- based builder, also of Kashmir origin, the reports said.

"They were arrested in the last two weeks at three different places in the country. One of them was arrested in Karachi, while the 'builder' was arrested in Islamabad", they said adding that the third suspect is still at large.

"There are no available details about these three suspects with regard to their links with organisations such as Al Qaeda or Lashkar-e-Taiba or both", the reports said.

Pakistani FIA investigators were apparently tipped off by the British authorities about the fund transfers and asked to investigate. Following their arrests the three suspects revealed some key elements of the aircraft bombing plan during interrogations by various agency personnel, they said.

According to UK's National Terrorist Financial Investigation Unit, (NTFIU), a huge amount of money had been transferred from Britain to PoK for relief efforts two months after the October 8 quake.

"Neither the amount nor the purpose for which money was sent caused any concern in the British investigation unit. What raised alarm among British sleuths specialising in finances was the fact that the entire money was remitted to three individuals, not to any organisation or organisations involved in the relief work," the reports said.

The official, who refused to disclose the amount, however, said that the entire transaction was in pound sterling.

"It is up to you to deduce. What I can say is that it was a huge amount. Had it not been gone into the accounts of individuals, nobody would have been bothered," he added.