[Reader-list] Arrests won't affect us, jihad will continue: Lashkar

[Aditya Raj Kaul]

Arrests won't affect us, jihad will continue: Lashkar
ANI
*New Delhi/ Lahore* A Lashkar-e-Toiba coordinator has said that the arrest
of at least 20 Jamaat-ud-Dawa activists, including the purported mastermind
of the Mumbai terror attacks, Zaki-u-Rehman Lakhvi, on the outskirts of
Muzaffarabad, will not stop the militant outfit from continuing with its
activities.

"We are still well-organized and active," the 'Washington Times' quoted the
Lashkar coordinator, as saying during an interaction at a safe house near
Lahore.

The Lashkar fighter in Lahore said the group has "huge strength" and is
concentrated in Pakistan's tribal areas on the border with Afghanistan.

He ran his fingers through his bushy beard as he sat in a dingy room for the
interview, surrounded by boys' ages 15 to 20 that listened intently as he
spoke.

The man stood uncomfortably against the wall throughout the interview, his
eyes avoiding contact with the interviewer.

"The Lashkar definitely has the capability and the capacity to conduct
attacks such as those which took place in Mumbai," said Rasool Baksh Raees,
a political science professor at the Lahore University of Management
Sciences.

The Lashkar organizer denied that the group had to purchase recruits. "Young
boys come to us usually because their friends have convinced them, because
they believe jihad is the epitome of being a good Muslim or because their
families are involved," he said.

Sharmeen Obaid, a filmmaker who has covered jihadists in Pakistan
extensively, said that selling boys into jihad is a common practice.

"It's happening more and more nowadays as people become more desperate for
money in Pakistan," she said.

"After the [2007 Kashmir] earthquake when a large number of children became
orphans, I was told that a number of them were sold to organizations such as
Lashkar," she added.

She said the price for one recruit could range from 10,000 to 19,000
dollars. "Sufi shrines and mosques are usual meeting grounds for young
boys," the Lashkar organizer said.

However, Yahya Muhammed, a spokesman for Lashkar-e-Taiba, has denied that
the organization has training camps.

"The Jamaat-ud-Dawa was formed in 1986, while the Lashkar-e-Toiba was formed
in 1986 and our main aim was to help our Kashmiri brothers," he said.

*India can't question Lashkar commander, says Pakistan*

Pakistan ruled out giving India access to Lashkar-e-Toiba commander Zakiur
Rehman Lakhwi, who is alleged to be behind the Mumbai terror strikes, saying
questioning could be done only by Pakistani authorities to ascertain whether
he had any link to the attacks.

Pakistan Defence Minister Chaudhary Ahmed Mukhtar said India's 'concerns'
can be discussed through a joint investigation mechanism which Islamabad has
proposed to be set up to probe the Mumbai attacks.

"May be we can have a joint investigation mechanism and find out who these
culprits are," Mukhtar told a TV channel.

He said Pakistani officials will question Lakhwi, who was arrested in the
crackdown against terrorists, to find out whether there is any linkage to
the Mumbai terror attacks.

Lakhwi's name figured during questioning of Ajmal Kasab, the only terrorist
caught during the Mumbai attacks, by Indian investigators.

"We do not have to rush into things. We have to move slowly to get hold of
the right kind of people who could be involved or are alleged to be involved
(in Mumbai attacks). I really do not know who they are. We are trying to
find out. We will find out. There is no reason why we would not find out,"
he said.

Mukhtar said the perpetrators of the Mumbai attack are 'scared' of
improvement in relations between India and Pakistan.

"They are scared of these countries becoming trading partners and gaining
confidence of each other," he said.

Mukhtar said the meeting of the Defence Committee of the Cabinet, chaired by
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, discussed the 'pros and cons' of
incidents 'happening around us' and ways to continue the war against terror
and to help Pakistan's neighbours fight the menace.