Counterterrorism Blog

An article in today's New York Times suggests that Pakistani investigators have found a possible financial link between those arrested this week in connection with a would-be terrorist plot targeting U.S. airliners and a Pakistani militant group that, until just a few months ago, was raising money directly from the United States through the Wall Street branch of the Bank of New York.

The group in question, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, is merely a cover name for the internationally-banned terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)--which has strong links to Al-Qaida and harbors a violently anti-American agenda. The relationship between the two groups is no secret, and even senior Pakistani government officials have acknowledged as much in media interviews. Last January, in a paper published by the Danish Institute of International Studies (DIIS), I discussed the troubling continued existence of LeT/Jamaat-ud-Dawa, and its questionable role in providing "earthquake relief" inside Pakistan. My advice to the Pakistanis is the same now as it was then: "Pakistan must take care that a humanitarian disaster like October’s earthquake does not lead to a manmade disaster fomented by religious fanatics emboldened by the sudden spread of [Jamaat-ud-Dawa's] populist message. At a time when Pakistan’s government is increasingly under siege by fundamentalist militants, it must take care to keep such NGOs and missionary charities at arms length – to avoid inadvertently becoming their next victim."

More relevant excerpts from the paper as follows:

"Organizations such as IHH are quick to respond to natural disasters and other human catastrophes. Unfortunately, these groups often seek to use these situations to gain leverage with destitute Muslim refugees. In August 1999, when a devastating earthquake struck Turkey, IHH reached the affected zones, in some cases, even before the Turkish government. Friction quickly grew between authorities tasked with relief and independent Islamist “humanitarian” groups. Ultimately, Turkey was forced to ban the IHH from participating in earthquake aid efforts because it was counted among several “fundamentalist organizations” operating “secret bank accounts” that were refusing to allow local authorities to oversee the distribution of their aid resources."

"A similar situation is now brewing in Pakistan following the catastrophic October 2005 earthquake. Prompted into action by public anger at the slow pace of aid to local refugees, a host of religious extremist organizations have stepped forward in hopes of filling the void and presenting themselves as populist alternatives to the secular rule of President Pervez Musharraf. One such group is the political wing of the terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) – an entity formerly known as Markaz Dawa wal-Irshad and currently operating under the name“Jamat-ud-Dawa” (“The Islamic Missionary Movement”). The MDI/LeT was founded during the late 1980s as Muslims from across Central Asia and the Middle East were fighting together against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. After witnessing the formation of organized mujahideen units in Afghanistan – consequently – a group of Pakistani Muslim militants decided to “take[] a leaf from the book of [the] Afghans … [and] lit the torch of Jihad movement.” This new movement – which became eventually known as Lashkar-e-Taiba (a.k.a. “The Army of the Pure”, “The Army of Madinah”) – wascomprised of both intellectual and military components. Markaz al-Dawa wal Irshad (MDI), the political wing of the LeT, was established first in 1986 for the purpose of “organi[zing] the Pakistanis participating in Afghan Jihad on one platform.”62 According to internal documents published by LeT, the Pakistani founders of MDI “had [the] full co-operation of Arab Mujahideen who taught [them] the intricacies of Jihad and Qital [combat].”63 On February 22, 1990, a group of Pakistani clerics and mujahideen commanders led by Hafiz Mohammed Saeed from the Ahl-e-Hadith movement in Pakistan “laid the foundation” for the MDI’s military wing (known as Lashkar-e-Taiba) with the joint establishment of their Camp Tango training facility in Kunar Province, Afghanistan.64 According to both Hafiz Mohammed Saeed and foreign recruits who joined Lashkar, one of the key individuals responsible for LeT’s formation and development was a prominent Saudi Al-Qaida member known as Shaykh Abu Abdel Aziz “Barbaros” (a.k.a. Abdelrahman al-Dosari)."

"Since its inception in 1990, the MDI’s military wing Lashkar-e-Taiba has participated in countless guerilla attacks on Indian soldiers, bombings of civilian and military targets in Jammu-Kashmir, and terrorist assaults on civilian targets in India proper, including a December 2000 attack on the Red Ford complex in Delhi, the Indian national capital. Red Fort is considered a geographic landmark, featuring a museum and hosting thousands of tourists each year. According to LeT sources, a two-man Lashkar fidayeen (“suicide commando”) unit forced its way into Red Fort, opening fire indiscriminately inside the ancient, Mughal-built structure. The fidayeen squad reportedly killed two people and seriously wounded another – the senior commander of LeT Hafiz Muhammad Saeed later declared that the Red Fort attack was “a
symbolic activity” intended to force India into withdrawing from Kashmir.66 In December 2001, the U.S. State Department officially named Lashkar-e-Taiba as a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). In his public statement on the designation, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell accused Lashkar of “seek[ing] to assault democracy, undermine peace and stability in South Asia, and destroy relations between India and Pakistan.”67 LeT’s political wing MDI was subsequently forced to change its name after it was identified in the same U.S. government designation as a “Sunni anti-US missionary organization” and part of LeT’s “fraternal network.'"

"Though the organization (currently known as Jamat-ud-Dawa) remains under the lead of
Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, it has somehow managed to survive Pakistani purges on Islamic
militants – perhaps by publicly disavowing any direct link to Lashkar-e-Taiba. Nonetheless,
Jamat-ud-Dawa continues to push forward the agenda of LeT, including through charitable
subsidiaries such as Idara Khidmat-e-Khalaq (a.k.a. “the Humanitarian Services Institution”).69 The mission behind the establishment of Idara Khidmat speaks volumes about the intentions of its founders. According to the website of Jamat-ud-Dawa, Idara Khidmat was formed in order to frustrate “certain hidden objectives” of other competing relief agencies from around the world:

In particular the aid donor institutions funded by the western countries are busy in preaching Christianity. They lure the people into meeting the basic needs of life to convert their faith avoiding argumentation. Africa is a special target of these Christian aid donor agencies. All the countries of South Asia in Middle East and Central Asia, western missionaries are engaged in changing the faith… Tsunami was the worst catastrophe of this century that rocked many countries. More than twenty hundred thousands peoples were dead and hundreds of thousands were rendered homeless. Many aid-giving agencies reached this hour with their hideous traditional agenda and the news of their interest in making the people Christian instead of giving aid spread all over the world. Muslim orphan children of Ache were sent to Christian educational institutes and literature of Christianity was distributed. This conspiracy failed soon.

"Indeed, in the aftermath of the Tsunami disaster in East Asia, Idara Khidmat-e-Khalaq urged charitable donations and emphasized “[s]ome of the scholars are saying that it is imperative for all muslims do their bit for the relief efforts – for the sake of humanity as well as to compete with the non-muslim efforts.”71 In order to accomplish that goal, Idara Khidmat has likewise established “partnerships” with other suspect fundamentalist charities – including the
previously discussed IHH in Turkey.72 The designated recipients of support from Idara
Khidmat admittedly include “relatives of martyrs” – presumably referring to the families of
Pakistani mujahideen killed while fighting in Afghanistan and Kashmir.73 Despite having been quick in the past to crack down on some suspected Arab-Afghan charitable front groups like Mercy International, Pakistani officials have not been as eager to crush the financial infrastructures of native militant groups like Jamat-ud-Dawa/Lashkar-e-Taiba. Despite having placed Jamat-ud-Dawa on a “terrorism watch list” in late 2003, Pakistani Interior
Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao recently conceded during an interview that Jamat-ud-Dawa
had nonetheless prospered by playing a key role in “the lifeline of our rescue and relief work.”
Sherpao was quick to insist that Jamat-ud-Dawa was “only involved in extensive charity work,
and their footprint now covers almost the entire quake-affected zone in the country.”74 Sherpao’s comments reflect the surprising degree of deference paid to Hafiz Mohammed Saeed
and his colleagues by the Pakistani government. Perhaps Pakistani President Musharraf hopes
to blunt the wrath of fundamentalist Pakistani militants by permitting them to continue on in
a limited national role. Undoubtedly, given the desperation of thousands of Pakistani earthquake
refugees, he seeks to avoid being accused by “domestic Islamic organizations” of “attacking legitimate Islamic institutions and intentionally hampering relief efforts.'”

"However, any strategy by Musharraf that offers legitimacy to Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jamat-ud-
Dawa, or Idara al-Khidmat also carries with it major risks. One cannot but recall the prophetic warning of the Bosnian Muslim Military Intelligence Service in 1995 about the “polarizing” effect of extremist NGOs and the “far reaching damaging consequences” of tolerating them. In a time of national emergency, no genuine, unconditional aid can logically be refused. But Pakistan must take care that a humanitarian disaster like October’s earthquake does not lead to a manmade disaster fomented by religious fanatics emboldened by the sudden spread of their populist message. At a time when Pakistan’s government is increasingly under siege by fundamentalist militants, it must take care to keep such NGOs and missionary charities at arms length – to avoid inadvertently becoming their next victim."