From the Daily Times of Pakistan: “Rashid says Muslims can’t deny jihadi culture.”
“Rashid” is Federal Information Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad. He “told a Pakistani television channel on Friday that one of the attackers of Thursday’s suicide bomb attack on President Musharraf seemed to be a foreigner. He also said the jihadi culture in Pakistan could not be changed and he who denied jihad had no place in Islam, adding ‘But whether or not it is jihad can only be decided by the State.’
So there cannot be jihad against Musharraf, I suppose? I suspect opinions on that in Pakistan will differ.
Meanwhile, about the “jihad culture” in Pakistan, another piece in the Daily Times says that “law-enforcement agencies have identified 45 religious organisations believed to have links with international jihadi networks or thought to be involved in terrorist and sectarian activities in Pakistan, sources told Daily Times on Friday.
“According to the sources, major groups believed to have links with Al Qaeda, like the Harkatul Jihad-e-Islami (HJI) and Jamiatul Mujahideen Al Alami have not been banned yet. They not only had roots in Pakistan, but also in Kashmir, Myanmar, Bangladesh and the Philippines, sources said.
“HJI chief Qari Saifullah Akhtar, who reportedly lives a in some Gulf state, was allegedly former Taliban leader Mulla Umar’s advisor and believed to have a direct link with Al Qaeda. The sources said several of his organisation’s several activists who were arrested by law-enforcement agencies for terror attacks in Karachi had divulged this information.
“The sources said Harkatul Mujahideen Al Alami, which was accused of an attack on President Pervez Musharraf last year in Karachi and the suicide attacks on French engineers, was formed by the HJI, Harkatul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ) and Jamiatul Mujahideen Al Alami.” (Thanks to Nicolei.)