Investigation Of Marriott Bombing In Pakistan Leads To Al Qaeda and Two Splinter Groups

This is one of the best articles I have found regarding how the investigation of the Marriott bombing in Pakistan that killed 60 people, here at TheNews, and what I am going to do is excerpt the entire article below. It is worth reading every single word as this paints not only the details that have been discovered so far, but really is a revelation of how Al Qaeda, in general, works. The point I'd like to make before you read this article is this: where in the hell is the intelligence in Pakistan to address these suspects and groups PRIOR to this bombing? Once they have a tip here, it seems, they know everything about these jihadists so are Pakistani authorities keeping an eye on these types at all??!!

Here's the article:

Al-Qaeda, HUJI, LJ nexus suspected in Marriott attack

LAHORE: Authorities probing the Marriott hotel attack are trying to ascertain whether it was sponsored by al-Qaeda and coordinated jointly by its Pakistani affiliates — Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI) and Lashkar-i-Jhangvi (LJ).Investigation officials have extracted some vital information during interrogations of two al-Qaeda-linked militants of the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi — Mursaleen and Fahad Munir alias Mithtoo.

Mursaleen was arrested on Sept 23, 2008 from Gujranwala in connection with the Marriott hotel attack following a laudatory phone call made to him from Islamabad soon after the bombing. Fahad Munir alias Mithtoo was detained on Feb 26, 2008 from Ferozwala near Lahore, along with the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami chief Qari Saifullah Akhtar, a day after the assassination of Lt-Gen Mushtaq Beig, the Surgeon-General of the Pakistan Army, in a suicide attack in Rawalpindi on Feb 25, 2008.While arresting Qari Saifullah from a secluded shrine near the Sagian Bridge, the Lahore police had announced the arrest of his three sons — Muhammad Asif Ali, Abdul Rehman and Mureed Ahmad as well as that of Fahad Munir alias Mithoo who, too, had received a suspicious call from Rawalpindi after the assassination of Lt-Gen Mushtaq Beg. While the HUJI Amir has already been set free in June 2008, Mithoo is still behind the bars and being re-interrogated following the Marriott hotel attack and subsequent arrest of Mursaleen, who is believed to have played a vital role in providing logistic support to carry out the bombing.

The information acquired by the investigators suggests the Marriott hotel attack might be an al-Qaeda-sponsored coordinated operation, jointly carried out by its Pakistani affiliates — the HUJI and the LJ.The Pakistani officials point out that the HUJI and the LJ are components of a five-member “Brigade 313”, which was launched in 2001 after the fall of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Both the HUJI and the LJ belong to the Deobandi school of thought, they are pro-Taliban and their recruits are indoctrinated in the mould of radical Islam. Those involved in tracking down the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami and the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi network believe the two groups might be working as a delta force of al-Qaeda in Pakistan. As a matter of fact, most of the major terrorist operations carried out against Western targets in Pakistan since the 9/11 terror attacks indicate the involvement of the HUJI and the LJ, which appear to be the groups of choice today for hard-core Deobandi militants.

Officials probing the Marriott attack do not rule out the possibility of Qari Saifullah Akhtar and Matiur Rehman, the alleged architect of the August 2006 London transatlantic bombing plot, working in tandem to carry forward the anti-US Jihadi agenda of al-Qaeda in Pakistan. Information acquired by Pakistani authorities further suggests that Matiur Rehman, believed to be the operational commander of the LJ after the arrest of Akram Lahori, is playing the same role as had been played by Amjad Hussain Farooqi, a commander of the LJ, who was allegedly employed by Qari Saifullah to plan the Dec 25, 2003 twin suicide attacks on Musharraf’s presidential cavalcade in Rawalpindi.

Subsequent investigations had revealed at that time that Qari Saifullah, who was hiding in the UAE, was actually tasked by Abu Faraj Al Libi, then chief operational commander of al-Qaeda in Pakistan, to carry out the attacks, who in turn engaged Amjad Hussain Farooqi to plan the same by using two suicide bombers. Hardly a few days after Qari Saifullah was extradited from Dubai to Pakistan in August 2004 on charge of conspiring to kill Musharraf, Amjad Farooqi was killed in a shootout with the police. As far as the Marriott bombing is concerned, officials believe the plan might have been sponsored by Dr Ayman Zawahiri. Qari Saifullah might have been tasked with its execution. He in turn might have engaged Matiur Rehman to implement it.An expert in bomb-making, Mati was first reported to have been caught by agencies in 2006, which was then officially denied. The 35-year-old comes from Bahawalpur and carries a bounty of Rs 10 million because of his role as liaison between al-Qaeda and its Pakistani Jihadi affiliates. Matiur is rated as extremely dangerous because of his role as a crucial interface between the brains of al-Qaeda and its muscle that is mainly composed these days of militants belonging to several Pakistani Jihadi groups.Authorities believe the arrest of either Qari Saifullah Akhtar or Matiur Rehman in the light of the information being provided by Mursaleen and a few other Jihadis arrested from different parts of the country may bring them closer to unearthing the conspiracy behind the Sept 20 Marriott suicide bombing that killed almost 60 people.