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 He said the Taliban have withdrawn intact with their weapons and will re-emerge.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.
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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