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

To: IQBAL LATIF who wrote (44372)	8/16/2003 4:01:58 AM
From: IQBAL LATIF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50167

Pakistan begins manhunt for fleeing Al Qaeda suspects By Iqbal Khattak PESHAWAR: Pakistani troops launched a massive manhunt on Friday for three Al Qaeda suspects who escaped a deadly six-hour gun battle in Peshawar. “Paramilitary soldiers, police commandoes and plain-clothed intelligence officials are combing the area,” a security official said, asking not to be named. Commandoes storming a suspected Al Qaeda hideout in crowded Peshawar’s Hayatabad neighbourhood on Thursday night were attacked with a volley of bullets and grenades. In the ensuing clash one of the Al Qaeda suspects, identified as 35-year-old Libyan national Abdul Rehman, was killed by a grenade exploding in his hand. At least three of his companions fled, possibly through the tribal zones into mountains overlooking Afghanistan. Friday’s hunt for the fugitives focussed on the tribal belt towns of Bara and Jamrud which lie along the 40-kilometre road from Peshawar to the porous Afghan border. Paramilitary troops in military jeeps patrolled the rugged mountains. Troops manning reinforced check posts were seen checking every vehicle entering the tribal area. Interior ministry officials said the Peshawar house was raided on specific intelligence that some Al Qaeda operatives were hiding there. “We had information that five to eight terrorists lived in that house,” said an officer who took part in the raid. The house belongs to Abdur Rahim, who was an active supporter of the war against Soviet troops occupying Afghanistan during the 1979-89 anti-communist war, neighbours said. Mr Rehman refused to surrender when security officials tried to negotiate, according to a security official who participated in the operation. The 16-year-old Pakistani wife of the dead militant, Khadija, was arrested after the gunfight and was being interrogated Friday about the fugitives. “I received a bullet in my palm,” she told reporters at a police station in Peshawar, displaying a bandaged left hand. “One Arab died in the encounter, another injured Arab escaped in the dark and one Pakistani woman was arrested in the raid,” Crimes Intelligence Department Chief AIG Salahuddin told Daily Times. A security official said the house was located close to the tribal district of Jamrud. “Certainly there is a possibility that some people may have escaped into the semi-autonomous region bordering Afghanistan,” he added. The fighting lasted several hours and the official said the “well-armed” suspects were believed to be important Al Qaeda operatives. “All law enforcement agencies in the tribal zone bordering Peshawar and Afghanistan have been ordered to carry out search operation for the Al Qaeda suspect,” a source in the Home and Tribal Affairs Department said.