A PROFILE of MILITANT GROUPS in BAJAUR TRIBAL AGENCY Terrorism Monitor Is a Publication by Mukhtar A
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VOLUME VII, ISSUE 6 u MARCH 19, 2009 IN THIS ISSUE: BRIEFS...................................................................................................................1 MILITANTS ASK WHETHER JIHAD IS DEFEATED IN IRAQ By Abdul Hameed Bakier...............................................................................3 EVIDENCE OF FRENCH INTELLIGENCE AGENCY REJECTED IN APPEAL OF A Pakistani soldier killed in FORMER GUANTANAMO INMATES Kurram Tribal Agency BY Pascale Combelles Siegel........................................................................5 A PROFILE OF MILITANT GROUPS IN BAJAUR TRIBAL AGENCY Terrorism Monitor is a publication By Mukhtar A. Khan........................................................................................6 of The Jamestown Foundation. The Terrorism Monitor is SECTARIANISM IN PAKISTAN’S KURRAM TRIBAL AGENCY designed to be read by policy- By Mariam Abou Zahab..................................................................................8 makers and other specialists yet be accessible to the general public. The opinions expressed SALAFIST WAR ON SUFI ISLAM SPREADS TO PESHAWAR within are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of The Jamestown The bombing of a famous Pesahawar shrine dedicated to a local Sufi saint is Foundation. the latest episode of what appears to be an effort to define a new ethnic and religious identity in the northwest frontier region of Pakistan. The March 5 attack on the mausoleum of Rahman Baba, the most famous poet of the Pashto Unauthorized reproduction or language and a major figure in the Pashtun cultural heritage, caused severe redistribution of this or any Jamestown publication is strictly damage after explosives were lodged against the shrine’s pillars (The Nation prohibited by law. [Islamabad], March 10). The bombing occurred the same day as a rocket attack on the shrine of Bahadur Baba in the Nowshera District of the NWFP, 40 km north of Peshawar (Daily Times [Lahore], March 10). Militants had warned the custodians of both shrines against the Sufi tradition of praying to the dead saints, a practice viewed as heresy by the Salafists, whose Saudi-influenced concept of monotheism excludes any intercession with God by revered Islamic figures, including the Prophet Muhammad. The attack on the Rahman Baba mausoleum is believed to be the work of the Lashkar-i-Islam, a Salafist militant group responsible for previous attacks on Sufi shrines, including the March 4, 2008, rocket attack on the 400-year-old Abu Saeed Baba shrine in the Khyber Agency that killed ten people. Rahman Baba For comments or questions about was an 18th century poet whose work espoused the virtues of love and tolerance. our publications, please send an email to [email protected], or His shrine has been a center for devotional Sufi music and singing by the Pashtun contact us at: communities of Afghanistan and Pakistan since his death. Ten years ago, the 1111 16th St. NW, Suite #320 Arab and Pashtun students of a new Saudi-funded Wahhabi madrassa down the Washington, DC • 20036 road from the shrine began taking it upon themselves to prohibit traditional Sufi Tel: (202) 483-8888 activities at the shrine as “un-Islamic.” Frequent assaults on visitors to the shrine Fax: (202) 483-8337 have caused a significant drop in visits. Copyright ©2009 TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE TERRORISM MONITOR, VISIT http://www.jamestown.org TerrorismMonitor Volume VII u Issue 6 u March 19, 2009 The leader of the nearby Haqqania madrassa outlined for the arrest of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir his objections to Sufi attendance at the Rahman Baba on charges of war-crimes (Akhir Lazha [Khartoum], shrine: “We don’t like tomb worship. We do not pray March 10). The strikes would target “world imperialists to dead men, even the saints. We believe there is no and CIA agents” in the three countries in what was power but God. I invite people who come here to described as “another September 11 attack” (Sudan return to the true path of the Qur’an. Do not pray to Tribune, March 11). The statement was also carried by a a corpse: Rahman Baba is dead. Go to the mosque, not number of jihadist websites. The coalition, calling itself to a grave” (Pakistan Observer, March 8). The local the Coalition of Jihad and Martyrdom Movements, Salafists appear to have been particularly enraged by also called for the assassination of ICC prosecutor Luis the tradition of female Sufis singing at the shrine and Moreno-Ocampo and Khalil Ibrahim, the Zaghawa attempted to impose a ban on all visits by women (The leader of Darfur’s rebel Justice and Equality Movement Hindu, March 9). (JEM). There have been other attacks on Muslim shrines Khalil Ibrahim’s movement staged a spectacular but in the Peshawar area in the last two years, including unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the Bashir regime last the December 2007 bombing of the shrine of Abdul May by sending a convoy of JEM fighters by truck all the Shakur Malang Baba and the attempted destruction way from the Chad border to the suburbs of Omdurman. of the shrine of Ashaab Baba just outside Peshawar in The statement described Ibrahim and the Paris-based 2008 (Daily Times, March 10). Sufi shrines attended by Abd-al-Wahid Muhammad Nur (the Fur leader of a both Sunnis and Shiites have in the past been special faction of the rebel Sudan Liberation Army/Movement targets of those seeking to promote sectarian strife in – SLA/M) as “Zionist agents,” an accusation commonly Pakistan. A bombing at the shrine of Pir Rakhel Shah made by the Khartoum regime as a consequence of the in March 2005 killed at least 50 people on pilgrimage; leading role played by Jewish organizations in Darfur two months later a suicide bombing at the Bari Imam activism. The coalition announced the formation of shrine outside Islamabad killed 25 and wounded over joint brigades under a unified command to carry out 200 (Himalayan Times, March 20, 2005; AFP, May 29, jihad and rid Darfur of colonialist “filth.” The coalition 2005). The Salafist campaign of tomb destruction has also declared its intention to coordinate with other brought the Taliban and other Salafi Islamist groups into global jihadist movements. conflict with the descendants of Sufi saints who wield considerable political power in Pakistan (The Nation, The new threats follow a February 21 warning from March 10). Sudanese intelligence chief Salah Abdallah Gosh (who has worked closely with the CIA on counterterrorism Large protests followed the most recent attacks, which issues despite being labeled as one of the architects of had cross-border repercussions in Afghanistan and India. the Darfur crisis) of the consequences of an ICC warrant President Asif Ali Zardari has announced the federal for al-Bashir: “We were once fanatical Islamists, but we government will assume responsibility for rebuilding the have become moderates and now believe in coexistence shrine of Rahman Baba, while the Kakakhel tribe has and peace. However, we will never break apart and said it will undertake the reconstruction of the Bahadur have no choice but to revert to our fanaticism in Baba shrine (The News [Islamabad], March 7; March order to manage our battle with the ICC” (Al-Sahafah 10). The practice of destroying the tombs of Sufi saints [Khartoum], February 21). has also been adopted by the radical Islamist al-Shabaab movement in Somalia, costing them considerable The statement was issued on March 9 by a group of support in that traditionally Sufi nation. mostly unknown Salafi-Jihadi militant groups, all apparently based in Sudan. Most notable of these was SUDANESE JIHADIS DECLARE INTENTION TO the Liwa’a Isud Darfur (Darfur Lions Brigade), which, CARRY OUT 250 SUICIDE BOMBINGS IN UNITED according to the statement, is led by Shaykh Musa Hilal, STATES, FRANCE AND UK the most prominent and powerful of the Janjaweed leaders in Darfur. A coalition of militant Salafi-Jihadi groups in Sudan has threatened to carry out 250 “martyrdom operations” in Musa Hilal’s involvement in the terrorist threat is the United States, France and the UK in response to the interesting, as he remains an official of the Sudanese issue of a warrant by the International Criminal Court government, serving as Adviser to the Ministry of the 2 TerrorismMonitor Volume VII u Issue 6 u March 19, 2009 Federal Government since January 2008. The statement this time. Al-Filastini suggests that, if jihad is in decline was carried in Sudan by Akhir Lazha, an Arabic- in Iraq, it is due to the jihadis’ lassitude and not because language daily thought to have close connections to of a U.S. triumph over jihadis in Iraq. In Afghanistan, Sudanese intelligence and the ruling National Congress the Taliban was defeated militarily but not ideologically, Party led by Omar al-Bashir. In late February, Musa therefore the movement made a strong return. Al- Hilal promised to mobilize 30,000 of Darfur’s “finest Filastini believes the mujahideen in Iraq should admit mujhahideen” to ensure anyone who supported the failure and learn from their mistakes. Members who ICC would “pay the price” (Al-Intibaha [Khartoum], agreed with al-Filastini attribute the jihadist defeat to February 27). JEM has accused Musa Hilal’s men of dissension among various jihadi groups, in particular responsibility for the March 11 kidnapping of three the rivalry between the so-called Islamic State of Iraq Darfur-based members of relief organization Médecins (ISI), the Jihad and Reform group, the Jihad and Change Sans Frontières (AFP, March 13). group and