LAHORE: The December 10, 2008 UN ban on two Pakistani charity groups — the Al-Rashid Trust and the Al-Akhtar Trust — is actually meant to cripple the financial support of the Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), led by Maulana Masood Azhar, since neither of the two proscribed trusts have anything to do with the Jamaatud Daawa (JuD) led by Prof Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, which was declared a terrorist organisation the same day.
The UNSC’s al-Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions Committee had added last week the names of a host of Pakistani charity organisations, including the Al-Rashid Trust and the Al-Akhtar Trust, to its consolidated list, declaring them terrorist support groups. The UNSC notification banning the two aid groups pointed out that the Al-Rashid Trust and the Al-Akhtar Trust were also using the names of the Al-Amin Trust and the Pakistan Relief Foundation, respectively, to carry on their so-called humanitarian agenda. The action against the Al-Rashid Trust and the Al-Akhtar Trust was largely motivated by their alleged links to some al-Qaeda and Taliban-linked Pakistani Jihadi organisations, especially the Jaish-e-Muhammad, which is believed to be the moving force behind these charities.
In fact, the Al-Rashid Trust, also operating as the Al-Amin Trust, was directly linked to the Jan 23, 2002 abduction and subsequent murder of the Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. The abductors linked to a mixed crew of Pakistani militant groups, including Masood Azhar’s right-hand man Sheikh Ahmed Omar Saeed, held Daniel Pearl in a two-room hut in the compound of a commercial nursery in Gulshan-e-Maymar area of Karachi owned by the Al-Rashid Trust, where he was finally slaughtered. Six years after Daniel’s gruesome beheading, the Trust and the Jaish still share office spaces across Pakistan with a certain overlapping of the cadre strength.
However, it is not for the first time that these charities have been banned due to their alleged links with extremist Jihadi organisations. On Sept 22, 2001, hardly 10 days after the 9/11 terror attacks, the State Department had banned the Al-Rashid Trust and the Al-Akhtar Trust for their alleged involvement in the financing and supporting of a network of international terrorist groups.
The Pakistani government subsequently moved against these charities in January 2002 freezing their assets and accounts. The State Department’s fact-sheet stated that the Al-Rashid Trust and the Al-Akhtar Trust were relief agencies that had been used by al-Qaeda to move supplies into Kandahar. Two years later, on Oct 14, 2003, the Treasury Department designated both these trusts as terrorist support groups and called upon the United Nations to follow suit with a similar designation.
The Treasury Department fact sheet stated: “During a custodial interview in April 2003, a senior al-Qaeda detainee disclosed that the Al-Rashid Trust and the Al-Akhtar Trust were some of Osama bin Laden’s many sources of income which had been providing donations to al-Qaeda as well as the Taliban.” The charge-sheet added: “Al-Rashid Trust and Al-Akhtar Trust were directly linked to the Jan 23, 2002 abduction and subsequent murder of the Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.”
Founded by Mufti Rashid Ahmed in February 1996 in Karachi, the Al-Rashid Trust subscribes to the Deobandi school of thought, a trait it shares with the Taliban and with most of the Pakistani militant groups, including the Jaish-e-Muhammad. With charity and relief work as its professed goals, the trust says its activities include providing financial and legal support to jailed Muslim militants around the world. Described as a welfare organisation, one of its original charters was to carry out welfare projects within Pakistan. However, overtime, the Al-Rashid Trust expanded its mandate to carry out relief activities for Muslims in Chechnya, Kosovo and Afghanistan. The trust also promotes the concept of Jihad among Muslims, especially at times and in places where it perceives the community of the faithful is being ‘oppressed’.
One of the numerous booklets of the Al-Rashid Trust, written by Mufti Rashid Ahmed, states: “The holy war is UNSC ban on Pak charities to cripple Jaish-e-Mohammad
By By Amir Mir
LAHORE: The December 10, 2008 UN ban on two Pakistani charity groups — the Al-Rashid Trust and the Al-Akhtar Trust — is actually meant to cripple the financial support of the Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), led by Maulana Masood Azhar, since neither of the two proscribed trusts have anything to do with the Jamaatud Daawa (JuD) led by Prof Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, which was declared a terrorist organisation the same day.
The UNSC’s al-Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions Committee had added last week the names of a host of Pakistani charity organisations, including the Al-Rashid Trust and the Al-Akhtar Trust, to its consolidated list, declaring them terrorist support groups. The UNSC notification banning the two aid groups pointed out that the Al-Rashid Trust and the Al-Akhtar Trust were also using the names of the Al-Amin Trust and the Pakistan Relief Foundation, respectively, to carry on their so-called humanitarian agenda. The action against the Al-Rashid Trust and the Al-Akhtar Trust was largely motivated by their alleged links to some al-Qaeda and Taliban-linked Pakistani Jihadi organisations, especially the Jaish-e-Muhammad, which is believed to be the moving force behind these charities.
In fact, the Al-Rashid Trust, also operating as the Al-Amin Trust, was directly linked to the Jan 23, 2002 abduction and subsequent murder of the Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. The abductors linked to a mixed crew of Pakistani militant groups, including Masood Azhar’s right-hand man Sheikh Ahmed Omar Saeed, held Daniel Pearl in a two-room hut in the compound of a commercial nursery in Gulshan-e-Maymar area of Karachi owned by the Al-Rashid Trust, where he was finally slaughtered. Six years after Daniel’s gruesome beheading, the Trust and the Jaish still share office spaces across Pakistan with a certain overlapping of the cadre strength.
However, it is not for the first time that these charities have been banned due to their alleged links with extremist Jihadi organisations. On Sept 22, 2001, hardly 10 days after the 9/11 terror attacks, the State Department had banned the Al-Rashid Trust and the Al-Akhtar Trust for their alleged involvement in the financing and supporting of a network of international terrorist groups.
The Pakistani government subsequently moved against these charities in January 2002 freezing their assets and accounts. The State Department’s fact-sheet stated that the Al-Rashid Trust and the Al-Akhtar Trust were relief agencies that had been used by al-Qaeda to move supplies into Kandahar. Two years later, on Oct 14, 2003, the Treasury Department designated both these trusts as terrorist support groups and called upon the United Nations to follow suit with a similar designation.
The Treasury Department fact sheet stated: “During a custodial interview in April 2003, a senior al-Qaeda detainee disclosed that the Al-Rashid Trust and the Al-Akhtar Trust were some of Osama bin Laden’s many sources of income which had been providing donations to al-Qaeda as well as the Taliban.” The charge-sheet added: “Al-Rashid Trust and Al-Akhtar Trust were directly linked to the Jan 23, 2002 abduction and subsequent murder of the Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.”
Founded by Mufti Rashid Ahmed in February 1996 in Karachi, the Al-Rashid Trust subscribes to the Deobandi school of thought, a trait it shares with the Taliban and with most of the Pakistani militant groups, including the Jaish-e-Muhammad. With charity and relief work as its professed goals, the trust says its activities include providing financial and legal support to jailed Muslim militants around the world. Described as a welfare organisation, one of its original charters was to carry out welfare projects within Pakistan. However, overtime, the Al-Rashid Trust expanded its mandate to carry out relief activities for Muslims in Chechnya, Kosovo and Afghanistan. The trust also promotes the concept of Jihad among Muslims, especially at times and in places where it perceives the community of the faithful is being ‘oppressed’.
One of the numerous booklets of the Al-Rashid Trust, written by Mufti Rashid Ahmed, states: “The holy war is UNSC ban on Pak charities to cripple Jaish-e-Mohammad
By By Amir Mir
LAHORE: The December 10, 2008 UN ban on two Pakistani charity groups — the Al-Rashid Trust and the Al-Akhtar Trust — is actually meant to cripple the financial support of the Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), led by Maulana Masood Azhar, since neither of the two proscribed trusts have anything to do with the Jamaatud Daawa (JuD) led by Prof Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, which was declared a terrorist organisation the same day.
The UNSC’s al-Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions Committee had added last week the names of a host of Pakistani charity organisations, including the Al-Rashid Trust and the Al-Akhtar Trust, to its consolidated list, declaring them terrorist support groups. The UNSC notification banning the two aid groups pointed out that the Al-Rashid Trust and the Al-Akhtar Trust were also using the names of the Al-Amin Trust and the Pakistan Relief Foundation, respectively, to carry on their so-called humanitarian agenda. The action against the Al-Rashid Trust and the Al-Akhtar Trust was largely motivated by their alleged links to some al-Qaeda and Taliban-linked Pakistani Jihadi organisations, especially the Jaish-e-Muhammad, which is believed to be the moving force behind these charities.
In fact, the Al-Rashid Trust, also operating as the Al-Amin Trust, was directly linked to the Jan 23, 2002 abduction and subsequent murder of the Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. The abductors linked to a mixed crew of Pakistani militant groups, including Masood Azhar’s right-hand man Sheikh Ahmed Omar Saeed, held Daniel Pearl in a two-room hut in the compound of a commercial nursery in Gulshan-e-Maymar area of Karachi owned by the Al-Rashid Trust, where he was finally slaughtered. Six years after Daniel’s gruesome beheading, the Trust and the Jaish still share office spaces across Pakistan with a certain overlapping of the cadre strength.
However, it is not for the first time that these charities have been banned due to their alleged links with extremist Jihadi organisations. On Sept 22, 2001, hardly 10 days after the 9/11 terror attacks, the State Department had banned the Al-Rashid Trust and the Al-Akhtar Trust for their alleged involvement in the financing and supporting of a network of international terrorist groups.
The Pakistani government subsequently moved against these charities in January 2002 freezing their assets and accounts. The State Department’s fact-sheet stated that the Al-Rashid Trust and the Al-Akhtar Trust were relief agencies that had been used by al-Qaeda to move supplies into Kandahar. Two years later, on Oct 14, 2003, the Treasury Department designated both these trusts as terrorist support groups and called upon the United Nations to follow suit with a similar designation.
The Treasury Department fact sheet stated: “During a custodial interview in April 2003, a senior al-Qaeda detainee disclosed that the Al-Rashid Trust and the Al-Akhtar Trust were some of Osama bin Laden’s many sources of income which had been providing donations to al-Qaeda as well as the Taliban.” The charge-sheet added: “Al-Rashid Trust and Al-Akhtar Trust were directly linked to the Jan 23, 2002 abduction and subsequent murder of the Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.”
Founded by Mufti Rashid Ahmed in February 1996 in Karachi, the Al-Rashid Trust subscribes to the Deobandi school of thought, a trait it shares with the Taliban and with most of the Pakistani militant groups, including the Jaish-e-Muhammad. With charity and relief work as its professed goals, the trust says its activities include providing financial and legal support to jailed Muslim militants around the world. Described as a welfare organisation, one of its original charters was to carry out welfare projects within Pakistan. However, overtime, the Al-Rashid Trust expanded its mandate to carry out relief activities for Muslims in Chechnya, Kosovo and Afghanistan. The trust also promotes the concept of Jihad among Muslims, especially at times and in places where it perceives the community of the faithful is being ‘oppressed’.
One of the numerous booklets of the Al-Rashid Trust, written by Mufti Rashid Ahmed, states: “The holy war is an essential element of Islam. Any Muslim must carry weapons, even within mosque, if the need would be felt to make fire on a non-Muslim.” The trust literature also denounces the United States for its policies towards Israel, Iraq and Saudi Arabia and praises Islamist terrorists. Among other objectives of the trust is to provide assistance to jailed Muslim prisoners, cleansing the media of pornography and creating books to promote in the people and the elite the fear of the Judgment Day.
Before the US-led allied forces attacked Afghanistan in Oct 2001, the Al-Rashid Trust operations in Afghanistan were located in Kabul, Jalalabad, Kandahar and Mazar-e-Sharif. Besides running a private radio station, which propagates Jihad, Al-Rashid Trust also publishes an Urdu newspaper Zarb-e-Momin as well as English paper, Dharb-e-Momin, which contain anti-American and anti-Western propaganda. They carry reports on the Jihadi activities of the Taliban and the Pakistan-based militant outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).
During his detention in Jammu Kashmir, Masood Azhar used to send articles clandestinely to the Rashid Trust which Zarb-e-Momin used to publish. In one of such articles published on Oct 31, 1999, Azhar praised services of Mufti Rashid Ahmed as follows: “Due to his services, the Taliban gained strength and the long porous border of Pakistan became so safe that not a single Army guard is needed there. Thousands of his students are fighting in Kashmir — students, who are as dear to him as his own sons, putting their lives in danger, are battling the Indian troops. When some renowned sons of Islam and Pakistan attained martyrdom in the prisons of India, he was the one who announced a reward of Rs 2 million for those who would kill the murderers”.
The second charity proscribed as a terrorist support organisation by the UNSC on Dec 10 is the Al-Akhtar Trust which also uses the name of Pakistan Relief Foundation to carry out its so-called humanitarian agenda. While banning the Al-Akhtar Trust for the second time on Oct 16, 2003, the Treasury Department notification had stated: “Today’s designation strikes at the life blood of terrorists — the money that funds them. Shutting down the group will cripple yet another source of support for terrorists and possibly help undermine the financial backing of terrorists staging attacks against American troops and Iraqi civilians. The activities of Al-Akhtar Trust demonstrate the dangerous alliance between corrupted charities and terrorists. There is little more despicable than raising money under the guise of doing good and instead diverting resources of often well-intentioned donors to supporting acts of terror.”
The Treasury Department notification had further stated: “Al-Akhtar Trust is actually carrying on the activities of the previously designated Al-Rashid Trust. Soon after the house arrest of Jaish-e-Muhammad Chief Maulana Masood Azhar in 2000, his followers set up two organizations — Al-Akhtar Trust and Al-Khair Trust which were registered as humanitarian aid agencies. The Jaish hoped to give the impression that the two outfits were separate entities and sought to use them as a way to deliver arms and ammunition to their members under the guise of providing humanitarian aid to refugees and other needy groups. Therefore, the Jaish was declared a terrorist group by the State Department on Oct 12, 2001.”
Though, strongly refuting that Al-Rashid and Al-Akhtar Trusts were one and the same, Maulana Mohammad Mazhar, the president of Al-Akhtar Trust said Al-Rashid was founded by Mufti Abdul Rashid while Al-Akhtar was established by his father, Hakim Mohammad Akhtar, who happens to be a disciple of the late religious scholar Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi. Mazhar said the Trust had nothing to do either with al-Qaeda or any other such group.
“The Trust is purely a welfare and charity organisation and the UN sanctions are based on misinformation. Neither of us had any connection with Osama bin Laden or his al-Qaeda network,” he added.
amir.mir1969@gmail.com