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Politics : Idea Of The Day -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: IQBAL LATIF who wrote (41394)	11/1/2001 6:02:42 PM
From: IQBAL LATIF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50167

Salman Hussein says the raids and arrests are quite indiscriminate. Hard crack down on Arab students in Pakistan.. Arab students studying in various colleges and universities of Karachi say they are being harassed by Pakistan’s intelligence agencies following the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the government’s decision to support the US in its campaign against Osama Bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda organization. While most students are on the run, hiding from law enforcement agencies, some have been captured, interrogated and expelled from the country. Most of these students belong to Yemen, the Sudan, Jordan and Palestine, countries from where students have traditionally come to Pakistan for studies in medicine and engineering. Most are enrolled at Karachi University, NED Engineering University and various medical colleges of the city. “Arab students seem to have vanished from the campus,” Shahid Ahmed, a KU student told me. Qasim Mohammad, a Yemeni student expelled from the University for “misconduct”, says he was interrogated for a few days “before they asked me to leave”. It was earlier reported that Qasim Mohammad had been handed over to the US authorities for his alleged links with “Al-Qaida. But the statements given by Qasim Mohammad himself in Yemen make sit clear that he is a free man. “I was not handed over to anyone, but was given an exit visa,” he told the press in Yemen. Interestingly, intelligence sources in Karachi still maintain that Qasim Mohammad was arrested and handed over to the US authorities. “I don’t know whether he was deported or handed over under an extradition treaty, but the special plane never landed at Karachi Airport,” a source at the airport told me. There is clear dichotomy between Qasim Mohammad’s own statement from Yemen, airport sources and claims by intelligence officials that “Qasim Mohammad was deported after he provided some important ‘tips’ to us [agencies] about Al-Qaeda”. Qasim Mohammad’s statement to the press from Yemen also disclosed that some 100 Arab students in Pakistan are still in custody or have been questioned since the September 11 attacks. Sources confirm that Pakistani intelligence agencies were tipped off by US authorities about various suspects and directed to specially keep an eye on Arabs. “This is a profile of sorts and all Arabs are considered suspects on that basis,” says a source. Law enforcement officials confirmed me that they have been raiding hostels and various houses where Arab students live and have some Arabs in custody. “But we haven’t been able to get all of them because many of them have gone into hiding,” says an official. But officials remain tight-lipped over the identity of Arabs who are being interrogated. They are not even prepared to give the exact number of Arabs being held. “I don’t know the exact figure of Arabs and Africans presently being questioned but it could be nearly a hundred suspects,” a police source told me. At the airport the civilian Federal Investigation Agency already has a long list of suspects. Recently, a BBC documentary showed a man suspected of links with Al-Qaeda and one of the 9/11 bombers, Mohammad Atta. Sources say the suspect passed through Karachi a few days before the attacks and that he was bound for the US. However, sources say the ministries of interior and foreign affairs may not have the exact data on foreign students and other nationals presently residing in Pakistan. It has been established that Arabs and Afghans affiliated with terrorist networks have been passing through the airport in Karachi. There have been previous incidents of such suspects getting arrested and extradited to the US. It has been learnt that most of the Palestinians, Somalis, Jordanians, Sudanese and others live in the areas of Gulshan-e-Isqbal, Clifton and Nazimabad, besides various hostels of professional universities and colleges. Human rights groups have expressed the apprehension that this could turn into a witch-hunt. “While it is important to go after those who are suspected of some wrong doing, the attacks cannot be made the basis for racial profiling or arresting people indiscriminately,” says a human rights activist. Arab students express similar feelings. “We are simply students and have done nothing, never participated in any jihad or belong to any group. Yet we are being harassed by the agencies. That is affecting our studies and our entire lives,” a Jordanian student told me while refusing to reveal her name. Meanwhile, reports suggest that the agencies have also increased surveillance along the Pak-Afghan border. “We have reason to believe that many Arabs and other suspects belonging to Al-Qaeda may either try to enter Afghanistan or return to Pakistan for subversive activities,” says a top official. In the past three weeks, at least a dozen foreigners have been arrested though the authorities remain quiet on further developments. There is also no word about their nationalities except the three Germans and one Australian who were arrested some two weeks ago. Appearing tomorrow..in TFT..