Punjab: Timeline (Terrorist Activities) -2003

An anti-terrorism court in Lahore granted bail, on January 1, 2003, to Al Qaeda suspect and medical practitioner Ahmad Javed Khawaja, and his brother Ahmad Naveed Khawaja. However, the accused could not be released as they have been booked for 90 days in another case registered against them under section 3 of the Security of Pakistan Act, 1952. As reported earlier, Ahmad Khwaja and nine of his family members were arrested on December 19, 2002, from their Manawan residence for alleged links with Al Qaeda and Taliban. Read less...

An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Dera Ghazi Khan, on January 3, issued non-bailable arrest warrants against proscribed Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) Sunni group chief and Member of the National Assembly (MNA) Maulana Muhammad Azam Tariq, for the sixth time for not appearing in the court. It directed police to present the accused on January 13. A case was registered against him and five others on July 31, 2000 at Jampur police station, under section 295A and 16 of the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance. Read less...

Personnel of Pakistani intelligence agencies and the FBI conducted a joint operation at religious schools and the office of a Jehadi organisation, 'Al-Dawah', in Khanewal, Chichawatni and Jehanian, Multan division, on January 5, and arrested an Arab, identified as Muhammad Fahad and four others. Read less...

While 1,000 activists were arrested in Punjab, 220 were arrested in Sindh, 18 in Islamabad and 200 in the North West Frontier Province's (NWFP) Malakand division. Of the sealed offices, 300 are in Punjab and 40 in Karachi. The arrested activists belong to the Tehreek-e-Jaferia Pakistan (TJP), Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JM), Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM), Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM). Read less...

Four front-ranking Al Qaeda terrorists were hidden at the Lahore residence of medical practitioner Ahmed Javed Khawaja, who was arrested along with four of his relatives on December 18, 2002, the government told the Lahore High Court, on January 15. "It was revealed through investigation that the al-Qaeda's most wanted terrorists were being harboured and facilitated at Manawan Compound owned by Dr Ahmed Javed Khawaja and his family," said an Interior Ministry statement presented to the court. The statement responded to a petition by Khawaja's wife challenging the legality of his detention, and that of his brother Naveed, sons Umar Karar and Khizar Ali and nephew Muhammad Usman. The Interior Ministry statement said terrorists allegedly harboured by the family were Abu Yasir Al Jazairi, identified as an Algerian or Moroccan, Assadullah and Sheikh Said Al-Misri, both listed as Egyptians and Abu Faraj, listed as North African. Al Jazairi was "responsible for the business of al-Qaeda," Al-Misri was a financial chief of the network, and Faraj was the head of Al Qaeda's North Africa network, according to the statement. Faraj was also a deputy of Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, a key Al Qaeda figure on the BI list, who escaped a raid on his hideout in Karachi in September 2002, the statement added. Read less...

An anti-terrorism court in Lahore, on January 21, ordered medical practitioner Ahmed Javed Khawaja and his brother Ahmed Naveed Khawaja, accused of sheltering front-ranking Al Qaeda terrorists, to stand trial next week on charges of attempt to murder, illegal weapons possession and anti-state activities. As reported earlier, they were arrested after a midnight raid on their residence in Lahore, on December 18, 2002. They have been accused of shooting at some 50 intelligence agents, including United States and Pakistani agents, during the raid. Read less...

Four members of a proscribed group, arrested on January 22 in a raid in the Daroghawala area, are suspected to have planned attacks against Christians and churches, official sources said, on January 23. Police seized five grenades and four rifles during the operation, Interior Ministry spokesperson Iftikar Ahmad said. "So far, we know that they belong to Lashkar-e-Taiba and have close links with Jaish-e-Muhammad," he added. He also claimed the terrorists were part of a cell that is waging Jihad against Westerners and Christians. Read less...

Police in Lahore arrested four members of an outlawed group in a raid in Daroghawala area, on January 22, for suspected links to the Al Qaeda. Though police are yet to name the outlawed group, a media report indicated that those held belong to the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT). An unspecified quantity of arms was also recovered from them. Read less...

The Lahore High Court’s Multan bench, on January 23, refused to prosecute proscribed Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Maulana Masood Azhar on charges of making an anti-India speech. "It is not a crime to make speeches against India," ruled Judge Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry, while dismissing the case. He said Indian Deputy Premier L K Advani "threatens Pakistan daily in India but the Indian government never institutes any case against him." Lahore Police registered a case against Azhar in August 2001 for delivering speeches against India. Altaf Shah, counsel for the Punjab government, told the Court that the Jaish chief made "provocative and sensational speeches which instigated students and youths to create a law and order situation." However, the Judge did not agree with this deposition and added, "Indian leaders always make anti-Pakistan and prejudicial speeches and they always attempt to create troubles for Pakistan." Read less...

Medical practitioner Ahmed Khawaja and his brother, a Canadian national, accused of having links with the Al Qaeda, were formally charged at a Lahore anti-terrorism court, on January 28, on charges of harbouring Al Qaeda operatives, attempted murder and illegal weapons possession. Both were arrested on December 18, 2002, on the suspicion of sheltering Al Qaeda cadres. As reported earlier, Khawaja reportedly confessed he provided medical treatment to a wife of Osama bin Laden and also to the wife of another key Al Qaeda leader, Abu Zubaida. Read less...

The Punjab government has placed a ban on Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) Amir (chief) Hafiz Muhammad Saeed delivering any public speech, official sources were quoted as saying in a media report. These sources also said the government has informed the local administration to prohibit the entry of Saeed in Sialkot, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Jhang, Lahore, Multan, Bahawalpur Rawalpindi, Jehlum, Hafizabad, and Faisalabad districts. The heads of all educational institutions, especially government institutions, have reportedly been instructed not to allow the LeT or any other proscribed group having links with the Lashkar to hold public meetings or Friday congregation in their institutions. Read less...