KARACHI, 24 December 2002 — The Al-Qaeda terror outfit of Osama Bin Laden is “down but not out” in Pakistan, and may be regrouping despite recent arrests in a crackdown on extremism, a senior police officer warned.
Fayyaz Leghari, the chief of Karachi’s police investigation department, acknowledged Al-Qaeda members were hiding throughout the country.
“They are on the run and may be using Pakistan as transit,” Leghari said late Sunday. “They may take time regrouping. They are certainly down, but not out.”
Recent police successes against Al-Qaeda-linked extremists, including the killing last week of a key operative, have proven a “major set-back for the militants,” Leghari said. “I believe they feel they are not safe here.”
A major explosion in Karachi Thursday demolished a suspected militant explosives warehouse and killed extremist Asif Ramzi, Pakistan’s most-wanted man, and three of his alleged associates.
Leghari called Ramzi’s death a “sigh of relief” for police. “There are very few terrorists of his magnitude. He had a role in several high-profile attacks and bomb blasts including the killing of Daniel Pearl and possibly the Sheraton blast that killed 11 French nationals and three Pakistanis in May,” he said.
Leghari said some banned militant groups were believed to have been planning attacks on Western targets over the holiday period, but after the recent string of arrests, militants are unlikely to strike during Christmas or New Year.
“We are on alert and police and paramilitary troops will remain on the road, but the militants are down and I don’t really think they can strike so soon,” he said. Karachi itself has a history of political, ethnic and sectarian violence that has left more than 4,000 people dead in the past five years. The sprawling port city of 14 million people has emerged as a likely haven for extremists including members of Al-Qaeda. (AFP)
