Militant Islam Monitor > Articles > 25 arrests in Pakistan of terrorists connected to London bombings
25 arrests in Pakistan of terrorists connected to London bombings
July 20, 2005
 |
| Three of the four bombers travelled to Karachi in southern Pakistan last year |
MIM: The arrests beg the obvious question of how the Pakistan's suddenly 'found' 'dozens of suspects'- and indicates that the Pakistani authorities are operating on a quota system - i e making X amount of arrests per incident to earn money and political points with the UK and the US. A serious crackdown would involve closing all the madrassahs and screening any foreign born young men with Pakistani backgrounds who enter the country.
http://www.itv.com/news/13638.html
London bombings: 25 arrests in Pakistan Tue Jul 19 2005
Pakistani security forces have arrested 25 suspected militants in a series of raids linked to investigations into the London bomb attacks.
The latest detentions were made in an overnight crackdown in the Punjab province and included members of outlawed Islamist groups.
"They are being questioned for links with any of the bombers," an official of the provincial government said.
The official said security agencies had detained 25 suspects in the cities of Dera Ghazi Khan, Multan, Faisalabad and Khushab.
A senior security official in Punjab said he expected that questioning of a handful of other suspects detained in recent days in the provincial capital, Lahore, would confirm ties to the London bombers.
"We suspect two or three of the detained (from Lahore) had links with the bombers. We are interrogating them intensively. We hope we will come out with some positive outcome shortly," he said.
The death toll from the London underground train and bus bombings stands at 56.
Three of the four bombers were young British Muslims of Pakistani descent, and officials say all of them entered Pakistan through the southern city of Karachi last year. The fourth attacker was a Jamaican-born Briton.
Out of 25 picked up overnight, four members of the Sunni Muslim militant Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (Army of Jhangvi) group were formally arrested because they were wanted for crimes.
None of the others was formally arrested or charged, the Punjab government official said.
A security official said one suspect arrested on Monday in Lahore had been found with explosives and large amounts of cash.
"He was suspected of possible links to the London bombers and was also suspected of planning some subversive activity in Pakistan," the security official said.
A senior police official in Peshawar said he expected the crackdown to extend to North West Frontier Province this week.
Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf ordered police to crack down on militant groups and hate literature in the days after Pakistani links to the London bombs were uncovered last week.
Jul 18: 'Schools of hate' in Pakistan terror link
Jul 18: London bombings: six more victims named
 |
| The investigation into the London bombings is now turning towards the Pakistan connection |
http://www.itv.com/news/1280134.html
Hardline schools in Pakistan which "hothouse" young Pakistanis in the ideology that fuels terrorism, are being linked with the recent bomb attacks on London.
The so called "schools of hate" which transform young men into religious radicals, allegedly brainwash them with the ideology that drives terrorism.
ITV News has learned there could be hundreds of these institutions in Pakistan.
It appears the investigation into the London bombings is now turning towards the Pakistan connection.
Three of the four London bombers - Mohammed Sadique Khan, Shahzad Tanweer and Hasib Hussain - all spent time in the country within the last year and they are all former pupils of the hardline religious schools known as Madrasahs.
Pakistan was also where all six of the most senior al-Qaeda leaders captured so far were living when arrested.
---------------------------------------------
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/articles/PA_NEWA16362401121844913A00?source=PA%20Feed
This is
LONDON
20/07/05 - News section
'Important' bomb suspect arrested
Police in Pakistan have detained an "important man" with "direct links" to the London bombings.
A senior intelligence official in the eastern city of Lahore confirmed that the man was in custody, but refused to disclose his name, or elaborate on his alleged links to the July 7 attacks.
It came after The Times reported that armed police in Pakistan had seized a major al Qaida figure with suspected close links to the bombers.
The Pakistani authorities were already holding at least seven people suspected of links to the four London suicide bombers - three of whom visited the country in the months before the atrocity.
Shehzad Tanweer, 22, Mohammad Sidique Khan, 30, and Hasib Hussain, 18, all travelled to Karachi in southern Pakistan last year.
Intelligence officials there are now trying to determine whether they received training or other assistance from extremist groups.
It has already been claimed that Tanweer met a leader of the outlawed radical group Jaish-e-Muhammad, which is said to have links to al Qaida, while an al Qaida aide has reportedly said he recognises Khan from a "terror summit" held in the tribal areas of Pakistan last year.
The Pakistani authorities have launched a crackdown on radical groups in the wake of the London bombings and have arrested dozens of suspected militants.
------------------
Bombings search switches to Pakistan phones
(Filed: 21/07/2005)
Investigators' focus has shifted to Pakistan where an "important man" with "direct links" to the London bombings has been arrested.
 | |
|
|
A senior intelligence official in the eastern city of Lahore confirmed that the man was in custody, but refused to disclose his name, or elaborate on his alleged links to the July 7 attacks.
Intelligence officials in Islamabad have been sifting through about 100 Pakistani phone numbers that may be linked to the suicide bombers after a request from their British counterparts.
The authorities had concluded that nearly 80 numbers did not provide information useful to the case, an official said, adding that the remaining 20 numbers, which included both fixed lines and cellular telephones, were under investigation.
It was also reported that Haroon Rashid Aswat, a British Muslim who is believed to be wanted in connection with the bombings, had been arrested in Lahore.
The FBI believe he was involved in a plan to set up an al-Qa'eda training camp in the United States in the 1990s
British authorities also refused to confirm whether Aswat was the al-Qa'eda suspect believed to have entered England by ferry in the month before the bombings who then left from Heathrow hours before the explosions.
Although that suspect's name was known to the intelligence services he was considered too low a priority to be put under surveillance.
Investigators want to question Aswat over claims that he was in contact with the bombers in the lead up to the attacks.
Aswat is said to have been brought up in Dewsbury - the same area of West Yorkshire where Mohammad Sidique Khan, one of the four suspected London suicide bombers, had lived.
Reports quoted intelligence sources as saying that he had been arrested, however this was denied by Pakistani officials.
The family of Aswat said today they lost contact with him many years ago.
His father, Rashid Aswat, issued a brief statement from his house in Batley, West Yorkshire, which said: "We are being asked about Haroon Rashid Aswat. He has not lived at this house and we have not had contact with him for many years."
Next story: Imams who praise terrorism to face deportation
Printer-friendly version 
Email this item to a friend