[Excerpt: Military trials in Pakistan are often shrouded in secrecy, and air force spokesman Air Commodore Sarfraz Ahmad would not confirm the court martials. Aslam Khattak, a former air force chief warrant officer and the father of one of the defendants, Nasruminallah Khattak, said the three airmen were charged with giving donations to the banned group Jaish-e-Mohammed, and of receiving small-arms training at the groupâs camp in Balakot, in northwestern Pakistan. He said his son was innocent. ] _http://www.bahraintribune.com_ (http://www.bahraintribune.com) Pakistan Air Force men jailed Three brothers arrested on suspicion of harbouring suicide bombers ISLAMABAD: Military courts have sentenced at least three Pakistan air force service men to prison terms ranging from two to nine years for alleged links to an outlawed militant group, relatives of the men said yesterday. The trials were not announced, but relatives said they had taken place on two southern air force bases between October and December of last year. Military trials in Pakistan are often shrouded in secrecy, and air force spokesman Air Commodore Sarfraz Ahmad would not confirm the court martials. Aslam Khattak, a former air force chief warrant officer and the father of one of the defendants, Nasruminallah Khattak, said the three airmen were charged with giving donations to the banned group Jaish-e-Mohammed, and of receiving small-arms training at the groupâs camp in Balakot, in northwestern Pakistan. He said his son was innocent. The younger Khattak, 18, was sentenced to two years in prison, as was Saeed Alam, 19. Another young airman, Munir Ahmed, was given a nine-year sentence, said Abdus Samad, Ahmedâs brother. President Gen. Pervez Musharraf outlawed Jaish-e-Mohammed in 2001 as part of efforts to end Islamic extremism. Islamic groups are blamed for at least three attempts against the Pakistani leader, including two in December 2004 when militants set off bombs as Musharrafâs motorcade passed. The attacks raised fears that they were receiving inside information on his movements. Since then, at least two soldiers have been convicted for their role in the attacks. One has been sentenced to death and the other to 10 years in jail. Last week, officials said another air force serviceman, Mushtaq Ahmad, who was being held for his role in one of the attacks on Musharraf, escaped from detention in Rawalpindi, a city near the capital Islamabad. The three young airmen whose cases came to light yesterday were not apparently involved in any of the attempts on Musharrafâs life. Police yesterday arrested three brothers for allegedly harbouring suspected suicide bombers who later made an attempt on the life of Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. The suspects, alleged members of Jaish-e-Mohammed, were identified as Abdul Moim, Abdul Basit and Nisar. Chaudhry Iftikhar, the chief of police in Rawalpindi, a city near the capital, said the three were nabbed in their home village in Attock, a district to the west, where the attack was launched July 30 as Aziz campaigned for a by-election, weeks before he took office. Aziz escaped unhurt but nine other bystanders were killed. Iftikhar said the two bombers, both Pakistanis, were sheltered at the brothersâ house in Awanpura village before the attack. One of the bombers was killed in the attack, but the otherâs suicide belt malfunctioned and did not explode. Itâs unclear if the surviving bomber has been arrested. Iftikhar said 16 other suspects in the bombing remained at large. Earlier yesterday, police announced the arrest last month of another suspected militant wanted for a failed assassination attempt against President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, and for a deadly bombing near a US Consulate in Karachi in 2002. Mohammed Jamil Memon, allegedly a member of the militant group Harkat-ul-Mujahedeen Al-Almi, was arrested on December 19 in Swat district, about 140km northwest of Islamabad, local police chief Ataullah Wazir said. It wasnât clear why Memonâs arrest was not announced earlier, although Wazir said the suspect initially gave police a false name. Wazir said that Memon, who is about 25, told investigators he was an expert in explosive switches, and that a computer seized from the suspect contained information about anthrax and dirty bombs âthat seemed to have been downloaded from the Internet.â Wazir said Memon attached switches to explosives in a van parked along a road at a spot Musharraf was expected to pass in Karachi in April 2002. The bomb malfunctioned and did not go off. Memon is also accused in the June 2002 bombing near the American consulate in Karachi that killed 14 Pakistanis. Three other members of Harkat-ul-Mujahedeen have been convicted over the assassination plot, and four other members for the consulate bombing. Police were due to transfer Memon from Swat to Karachi, where investigator Raja Omar Khitab said they would try to determine if the suspect has links to Abu Faraj Al Libbi, a Libyan who is believed to be Al Qaedaâs operational commander in Pakistan. Al Libbi is wanted for allegedly masterminding two December 2003 assassination attempts on Musharraf in Rawalpindi. â Agencies enditem UNRESTRICTED
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Take a look at donorschoose.org, an excellent charitable web site for anyone who cares about public education! http://us.click.yahoo.com/_OLuKD/8WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
