Bin Laden declares ‘war’ on Musharraf in new tape

DUBAI, Sept 20: Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden called on Muslims in Pakistan to wage holy war against the government of President Pervez Musharraf in a new audio message issued on Thursday.

Bin Laden declared Al Qaeda’s intention to retaliate for the blood spilled by “champions of Islam,” in the new recording produced by the terror network’s media arm As-Sahab and monitored by the US-based SITE Intelligence Group.

“It is obligatory on the Muslims in Pakistan to carry out jihad (holy war) and fighting to remove Pervez, his government, his army and those who help him,” said the voice in the tape.

The recording was accompanied by video footage of the Western world’s most wanted man, including scenes of him firing a machine gun and walking in a mountainous area with his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri.

The SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors extremist websites, said the video footage had been previously released.

The threat from bin Laden was swiftly dismissed by Pakistan. “We are already committed to fighting extremists and terrorists -- there is no change in our policy,” chief military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad told AFP.“If someone is hurling threats at us, that is their view.

The whole nation is behind us and the Pakistan army is a national institution,” Arshad added.

The threat against Musharraf surfaced just as Pakistan’s election commission named October 6 as the date for a presidential poll in which the embattled military ruler will seek re-election in uniform.

A string of videos and audio messages have been issued by Al Qaeda to mark the sixth anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001, some featuring bin Laden who had previously not been seen for three years.

“The imminent call by bin Laden to fight against Musharraf demonstrates Al Qaeda’s long-standing and deep hatred for the Pakistani regime, its principal enemy in the region,” said Yasser Serri, director of the Islamic Observatory based in London.

In another video released by Al Qaeda’s media arm, bin Laden’s number two also warned that Musharraf would be “punished” over the killing of leading rebel cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi in the storming of the Red Mosque in Islamabad in July.

Pakistan, which became a US ally after the September 11, 2001 attacks, has suffered a dramatic upsurge in violence since the siege and storming of the Al-Qaeda-linked mosque which left more than 100 people dead.

In the tape, the bearded and bespectacled Zawahiri branded Pakistani security forces “hunting dogs under (US President George W.) Bush’s crucifix.

“Let the Pakistani army know that the killing of Abdul Rashid Ghazi and his male and female students and the demolishing of his masjid and two madrassahs (mosque and religious schools) has soaked the history of the Pakistan army in shame and despicableness which can only be washed away by retaliation against the killers of Abdul-Rashid Ghazi and his students,” he said.

In the same Al Qaeda video, Zawahiri and others taunt the United States over alleged Islamist victories in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere and call for Muslim allies of Washington to be driven from power.

The 81-minute video is a compilation of old TV news clips mixed with new comments from Zawahiri.

Explosion injures 4 FC men near Dera Bugti

QUETTA, Sept 19: Four Frontier Corps personnel were injured in a landmine explosion near Dera Bugti on Wednesday evening.

According to official sources, the Frontier Corps personnel were on their way to Dera Bugti in an official vehicle.

When they reached Pesh Bogi area, between Sui and Dera Bugti, their vehicle hit the landmine.

The security personnel deployed in the area rushed to the site and shifted the injured to a military hospital in Sui.

“Four FC soldiers were injured in the blast,” police sources confirmed, adding that it was a locally-made landmine planted along the road.

Security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation for the arrest of tribal militants.

An unknown caller, claiming to be a spokesman for the Baloch Republican Army, said his organisation was behind the explosion.

He also claimed heavy casualties in the blast.However, official sources denied heavy human loss, saying only four FC men were injured.According to another source, the walls of the Government Boys High School in Pasni were damaged by a powerful explosion.

A locally-made bomb was planted on the school premises that went off, rocking the entire coastal township.

No casualty was reported, however.In yet another incident, one person was killed and another injured in firing on Jinnah Road in Quetta on Wednesday night.

Police said deceased Ali Jan and his brother Nazir, who received bullet injuries, had tribal enmity.

The assailants managed to escape.

Police have registered a case, but no arrest was made.

Uniform issue internal matter: White House

WASHINGTON, Sept 18: The Bush administration on Tuesday refused to take any position on whether President Pervez Musharraf should quit the military before or after his re-election, although in previous statements senior US officials repeatedly reminded the general that he had pledged to settle the uniform dispute before the elections.

Earlier on Tuesday, a senior lawyer for President Musharraf told the Supreme Court in Islamabad that he plans to quit his post as army chief if he wins forthcoming presidential elections.

At a White House briefing, spokeswoman Dana Perino refused to get involved in the dispute over Gen Musharraf’s uniform. “As regards to the Pakistani supreme court looking into this matter of the uniform, that is an internal Pakistani matter that we’ll let them debate,” she said.“What we would like to see is free and fair elections in Pakistan,” she added.

The State Department also expressed similar views, adding that the United States “wants to see Pakistan succeed as a modern democratic country.”

Washington backs “a transparent election process that respects the Constitution, gives Pakistani citizens choices and respects their decisions,” a State Department official told Dawn.

Asked to comment on Sharifuddin Pirzada’s statement that “if elected for a second term as president, Gen Musharraf shall relinquish charge of the office of chief of army staff soon after elections and before taking the oath of president for the second term,” the State Department official said: “We refer you to the government of Pakistan.”

The US media, while reporting Mr Pirzada’s statement, noted that so far Gen Musharraf has strongly resisted moves to make him quit the military — which is the main source of his power and whose loyalty in the fight against Al Qaeda militants has kept Washington on his side.

The media also noted that the PPP has dismissed the plan as undemocratic and unconstitutional, but did not say if it would affect a proposed power-sharing deal between Benazir Bhutto and Gen Musharraf.

Militants free 11 FC men

BANNU, Sept 14: Militants in North Waziristan released 11 personnel of the Frontier Constabulary on Friday.The personnel had been kidnapped after Sept 11 midnight from a checkpoint in Azad Mandi area.

The freed personnel said here that they had been treated well by the militants, but their weapons and badges were not returned.

They said they had to surrender because the militants had besieged their checkpoint.

30 to 40 Millitants Killed in Clashes in Waziristan: ISPR

The ISPR General Major General Waheed Arshad claimed that 30 to 40 militants have been killed in North and South Waziristan during clashes with the Pakistan Army.

On the other hand, the spokesperson of the militants’ commander Hafiz Gul Buhadur, identified himself Ahmandullah Ahmadi denied the claims of ISPR and tagged them “Baseless”.

A heavy trade of fire between army and militants was underway till last evening.

Meanwhile, another spokesperson of militants warned that if the strikes from the army did not cease, they would start killing more than 200 army men who were abducted in South Waziristan after surrendering.