NEW TREND MAGAZINE
EYEWITNESS GLIMPSE OF LASHKAR-e-TAYBA
On December 20, President Bush declared that Lashkar-e-Tayba is a
terrorist group. The very next morning, an obliging Pakistani
government
declared that it had frozen L-e-T's assets and by December 24, Pakistan
had
cut the telephones of L-e-T main office and ordered its offices sealed
and
accounts to be investigated. All this came from Indian claims that
L-e-T was
involved in the attack on its parliament.
On December 17, we got an eyewitness account of an Eid Gathering
addressed by Hafiz Saeed, leader of Lashkar-e-Tayba. Here are the main
points
of the Eid Khutba delivered by the jihadist leader:
1. The gathering was held at Qaddafi stadium in Lahore and was attended
by
tens of thousands of people.
2. Among the participants were several thousand women, wearing Islamic
covering and (many) with face veils. The women had their own women's
security
force.
3. The area of the gathering was secured by fighters of L-e-T armed
with
automatic rifles,
4. The crowds enthusiastically supported L-e-T and (men and women)
donated
large amounts of cash for Jihad.
5. In his powerful speech, Hafiz (one who has memorized the Qur'an)
Prof.
Saeed condemned the U.S. bombing of Afghanistan and praised the courage
and
endurance of the Taliban. He said the Taliban have withdrawn intact
with
their weapons and will re-emerge.
6. Prof. Saeed expressed the Islamic will against Indian atrocities in
Kashmir and vowed to continue the struggle to liberate the Islamic land
of
Kashmir.
7. He categorically rejected and condemned the Indian propaganda about
L-e-T's involvement in the attack on India's Parliament. He pointed
out:
i. If L-e-T were to attack an Indian target, it would openly take
responsibility.
ii. The attack has been concocted and set-up by India. L-e-T has no
reason
and nothing to gain by carrying out such an attack.
iii. He reminded India that when L-e-T had attacked a military prison
in
India where Muslims were being tortured, it had taken responsibility
and
India had not been able to kill or capture its fighters.
-------------------------------------------
On December 31, Hafiz Saeed was arrested by the Musharraf government
after
President Bush called for "decisive" measures against these
"terrorists."
India stated that the arrest is a "step in the right direction." A new
leader
has stepped in to carry on Lashkar-e-Tayba's work.
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2002-01-04 Fri 16:51ct