Pakistan Arrests Important Militants Linked to Al Qaeda & Pakistani Intel
By Andrew Cochran
There are news reports that Pakistan arrested Ghulam Mustafa, a.k.a. Ghulam Mustafa Tabassum, in Lahore 10 days ago. Tabassum is a leader in the outlawed Lashkar-e-Jhangvi militant group, which is linked to Al Qaeda. The Reuters story quotes an Pakistani official: "He is amongst the top nine terrorists in the country and was also involved in the planning of two failed assassination attempts on President Musharraf...He was a leading figure in Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and was also wanted for the Bari Imam attack" (a suicide bombing at a Muslim shrine last May in which 19 people were killed). More: "The official said Tabassum had been running Lashkar's most militant arm, the Akram Lahori Group, after its leader Usman Choto was arrested in Karachi on December 18. He said Tabassum was also involved in a series of attacks on Western targets as well as minority Shi'ite Muslims." Other news reports note the Pakistanis haven't turned Tabassum over to the U.S. for interrogation because he "has some tales to tell, but the authorities in Pakistan would rather they were not heard, especially by the Americans..." Another news report on the arrest: "Ghulam Mustafa's confessions that he was doing logistics for al-Qaeda while also coordinating with Pakistan's secret services in Kashmir were if not a surprise, certainly an embarrassment." Although Tabassum is described as "al-Qaeda chief in Pakistan" in this report, anybody who regularly follows news of Al Qaeda arrests and deaths is, by now, understandably very wary of such designations. Pakistan also arrested "three other Lashkar militants of accused of involvement in a series of attacks on Shi'ites..."Their names are included in the most wanted list of terrorists and they were planning more attacks in the city."
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