LAHORE: A little known Pakistani militant group calling itself Asian Tigers has claimed responsibility for the March 25, 2010 kidnapping of two former ISI officials and a British journalist from the North Waziristan region on the Pak Afghan tribal belt and have threatened to execute them if its demand regarding the release of three senior Afghan Taliban leaders including Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar was not met within 10 days.
Both the kidnapped former ISI officials have stated in a video dispatched by the kidnappers and released by the Geo TV that they had traveled to Waziristan after being asked by the country’s former Army Chief General Mirza Aslam Beg and a former ISI Chief Lt Gen Hameed Gul. The kidnapped ISI officials – Col (red) Imam and Khalid Khwaja, and a British passport-holder journalist Asad Qureshi were last seen in the Mirali area of North Waziristan where they reportedly held a meeting with a senior Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leader, Maulana Waliur Rahman. After their interview with the Taliban commander, the sources said, a clean-shaved person, who was already with them, came to Col (R) Imam and his colleagues and took them to a nearby house. The arrested persons have been quoted as saying in the video that the Pakistan government should take personal interest to ensure their release.
An email sent along with the video footage of the abducted persons demanded an immediate release of the senior most Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Mullah Mansoor Dadullah and Maulavi Kabir who were arrested by the Pakistani authorities a couple of month ago. Since the beginning of February 2010, the Pakistani authorities have captured ten of the 18-member Quetta Shura Taliban (QST), including Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the second-in-command of Mullah Omar, Motasim Agha Jan, the son-in-law of Mullah Mohammad Omar and at least half a dozen shadow governors of the Afghan provinces. These high-profile arrests, combined with the ongoing US-led military offensive in Helmand and the unending spate of American drone attacks in the tribal areas of Pakistan had adversely damaged the command and control structure of Afghan Taliban, which is called the Quetta Shura Taliban (QST), led by Mullah Mohammad Omar.
The group which has abducted the former ISI officials, calling itself Asian Tigers, an unusual name for a militant group in Pakistan, is also reported to have demanded a $10 million ransom for journalist Asad Qureshi who also has been missing along with the two retired ISI officers. In the video clip, Col (retd) Imam is heard saying that his real name is Sultan Amir (Tarar) and he served in the Pakistan Army for 18 years, 11 of them in the Inter Services Intelligence. “I had consulted with Gen Aslam Beg (former army chief) about coming here,” Col Imam said. Squadron Leader (retd) Khalid Khwaja said he had served in Pakistan Air Force for 18 years and in the ISI for two years. “I came here on the prodding of Lt Gen Hameed Gul, General Aslam Beg and ISI’s Colonel Sajjad,” Khalid Khwaja was heard as saying in the video. Both held a copy of a Peshawar-based Urdu newspaper while recording their statement before the camera. In the video, the group called itself “Asian Tigers” and said the hostages would be killed if its demands were not met within 10 days.
The group said (exact words taken from email in English): “Khalid Khwaja and Col Imam in Taliban custody. Both ISI persons are enemy of Islam and Muslims. We demand released all Taliban leaders, Mullah Brother (Baradar), Mullah Mansoor Dadullah and Mullah Kabir. We will send list of other mujahideen within a few days. Ten days time, if government not released mujahideen, then we will kill ISI officers or other decision.” The email did not say anything about the British-born journalist. Lt Gen Hameed Gul and Gen Aslam Beg could not be contacted for comments.
Col Imam was Pakistan’s Consul General in Kandahar during the Taliban rule and had developed close ties with the militia. His real name is Amir Sultan Tarar and it is believed that Imam was his cover name while on an assignment in Afghanistan. He continued to maintain close relations with the Taliban and became one of their outspoken supporters, advocating their cause in the media. Khalid Khwaja came to prominence when he took up the cause of the missing persons in the Supreme Court of Pakistan. He formed the Defence of Human Rights, a platform he used to highlight the issue of missing persons. It is reported that the former ISI officers had used their contacts with some Taliban to prepare a documentary with journalist Asad Qureshi.
According to an intelligence account of their journey to Waziristan, they spent a night at the residence of former Jamiat Ulema-s-Islam parliamentarian Shah Abdul Aziz, an ardent supporter of the Taliban. They spent a night with another former parliamentarian of the Jamaat-e-Islami, Javed Ibrahim Paracha, who has been pleading the case of former militants in government custody. The three had tea at his place before leaving for Bannu on way to North Waziristan. Shah Abdul Aziz told reporters he had warned the group against traveling to the tribal region, but they said there was nothing to worry about because the trip had been properly organised. The group had boarded a passenger coach and persuaded its driver to take an unfrequented route to avoid security check posts. Nothing has been reported beyond that point.
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