The following are news items from the MEMRI Urdu-Pashtu Media Blog (www.thememriblog.org/urdupashtu) concerning Faisal Shahzad, the Pakistani-American who has been charged in the failed May 1 Times Square car bombing. The MEMRI Urdu-Pashtu Media Blog includes news found nowhere else – much of it posted days before it is reported by other media sources. Urdu-Pashtu Media Project staffers work in Washington DC, London, Kabul, Peshawar, Islamabad, and New Delhi, monitoring numerous daily and weekly newspapers, websites, and television stations out of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India in the Dari, Pashtu, Urdu and Hindi languages.
Follow the MEMRI Urdu-Pashtu Media project on Twitter for the latest news and information from the Urdu and Pashtu media: http://twitter.com/memriurdu
Times Square Bomber Faisal Shahzad, Son Of Pakistan Air Force Officer, Met With Jaish-e-Muhammad Militant Commander; Several of His Relatives Among 13 Arrested In Pakistan
Faisal Shahzad, who has been arrested in the failed Times Square bomb attack case, met with a commander of the militant organization Jaish-e-Muhammad in July, according to an Urdu-language daily. In recent years, Jaish-e-Muhammad, a Sunni militant organization, has been reported to be working in close cooperation with the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in Pakistan.
http://www.thememriblog.org/urdupashtu/blog_personal/en/26857.htm
Five Pakistani Nationals, Linked To Militants, "Detained" In Dubai
Two acclaimed Pakistani doctors, known for their alleged links to Al-Qaeda and Sunni militant organization Jundallah, along with three other Pakistani nationals, have been "detained" in Dubai, according to an Urdu-language Pakistani daily.
http://www.memrijttm.org/content/en/blog_personal.htm?id=3333¶m=UPP
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Times Square Bomber's Father, Air Vice-Marshal (Ret) Baharul Haq, Taken Into Preventive Custody In Pakistan
Air Vice-Marshal (Retired) Baharul Haq, the father of Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad, has been taken into preventive custody by the intelligence agencies in Pakistan, according to an Urdu-language website.
The website of the Urdu-language newspaper Roznama Jang reported that Haq was taken into preventive custody near the town of Hasan Abdal in the Punjab province, while en route to Islamabad via Peshawar.
The report cited unidentified sources as saying that the former Pakistan Air Force (PAF) officer has been taken into custody to prevent him from speaking to the media and sensitive (i.e. espionage) agencies.
Earlier media reports had spelled his name as Bahaul Haq. His son Faisal Shahzad has been arrested in the U.S. for trying to cause a car bomb explosion in New York’s Times Square on the evening of May 1.
http://www.thememriblog.org/urdupashtu/blog_personal/en/26883.htm
Leading Pakistani Daily Alleges Foreign Diplomatic Hand In Helping Faisal Shahzad
A leading Pakistani daily alleges a foreign diplomatic hand in the Times Square bombing plot, saying its mastermind Faisal Shahzad met with a foreign diplomat during his visit to Pakistan in February.
The leading newspaper The News cited an unidentified source as saying that the foreign diplomat has been identified as Williams, but no more information was available about the purpose and details his meeting with Faisal Shahzad.
After his meeting with Williams, Faisal Shahzad returned to the U.S. on February 3, the report said.
According to the report, Faisal Shahzad's only brother is settled in Canada, while a sister, who is a doctor by profession, is married in Peshawar. Faisal’s father Air Vice-Marshal (retired) Baharul Haq, who was detained today, also served in the Civil Aviation Authority after his retirement from the Pakistan Air Force (see Baharul Haq, Taken Into Preventive Custody In Pakistan).
http://www.thememriblog.org/urdupashtu/blog_personal/en/26886.htm
Dr. Fouzia Siddiqui Says Hakimullah Mehsud's Letter To Her Is Part Of International Conspiracy
Dr. Fouzia Siddiqui, the sister of Pakistani scientist Dr. Aafia Siddiqui who has been convicted in the U.S. for trying to kill American troops in Afghanistan, has dismissed a letter written to her by Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud as part of an international conspiracy, according to an Urdu-language daily.
Pakistani newspapers reported on Tuesday that in the letter Mehsud, the Emir of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP or the Movement of Pakistani Taliban), has promised revenge for her sister Dr. Aafia Siddiqui’s conviction in the U.S. (see Report: Letter By Hakimullah Mehsud Confirms He Is Behind Times Square Plot.)
According to a report in the Urdu-language newspaper Roznama Islam, Dr. Fouzia Siddiqui said, "This letter was issued by international intelligence agencies [and not Mehsud] as part of an international conspiracy against my efforts to get Aafia released from America."
The letter, addressed to Dr. Fouzia Siddiqui, was routed through former Pakistani spy Khalid Khwaja, who was killed by the militants in North Waziristan a few days ago as he went along with another former spy, Colonel Imam, to help a British journalist to make a television documentary.
In the letter, Mehsud had expressed his support to Dr. Fozia Siddiqui for her campaign to get her sister released from the U.S., the report said.
From various conflicting media reports, it is unclear if the letter was actually delivered by Khalid Khwaja to Dr. Fouzia Siddiqui.
http://www.thememriblog.org/urdupashtu/blog_personal/en/26884.htm
Dr. Aafia Siddiqui Advertisement In Urdu Daily Calls For Protest In Islamabad; Earlier This Week, TTP Cites Her as Reason for Times Square Attack
An advertisement in a leading Urdu daily in Pakistan has called for a protest rally in Islamabad tomorrow, May 6, to demand the release of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, the Pakistani scientist convicted by a Manhattan jury for trying to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan. The advertisement, which was issued by one Engineer Syed Bilal with the support of two people named Khalid Bhatti and Ibrar Khan, was carried by the Urdu-language daily Roznama Express. In the latest videos released in connection with the Times Square bomb plot, Hakimullah Mehsud, the Emir of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, and his lieutenant Qari Hussain Mehsud cited the case of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui as a reason for their revenge.
http://www.thememriblog.org/urdupashtu/blog_personal/en/26872.htm
Prominent Television Presenter Kamran Khan Dubs Faisal Shahzad's Arrest A Conspiracy Against Pakistan
Prominent Pakistani journalist Kamran Khan, who hosts a popular current affairs talk show on GEO television network, has described the arrest of Faisal Shahzad in connection with the Times Square bomb plot as a conspiracy against Pakistan, according to an Urdu daily. The mass-circulation Urdu-language newspaper Roznama Jang quoted the television host as saying: "After the arrest of the Pakistani-born American citizen, Pakistan is once again being presented internationally as a center of terrorism." According to the report, Kamran Khan said: "The noteworthy point is that the arrests of the Pakistani-born American citizen came when the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the [Times Square] incident. [Thus] everything happened on the same day as a court in Mumbai was declaring a Pakistani as guilty of the Mumbai attacks [of 2008]." Kamran Khan (pictured above) added: "This point is extremely important that at the time the terrorist incidents from Mumbai to New York were linked to Pakistan, right at that time General David Petraeus, the chief of the U.S. army, was holding talks with Pakistan Army Chief General Ashfaq Kayani in Islamabad..."
According to the Roznama Jang report, "Kamran Khan is of the view that commentators are observing that a conspiracy is being weaved around Pakistan once again."
http://www.thememriblog.org/urdupashtu/blog_personal/en/26871.htm
Urdu-Language Pakistani Daily Says Arrest Of Faisal Shahzad Is A Conspiracy Against Pakistan
A report in an Urdu-language Pakistani newspaper says that the arrest of the Pakistani man, Faisal Shahzad, in connection with the Times Square bomb plot is a "conspiracy against Pakistan as evidence provided by [U.S.] intelligence agencies is inconclusive."
"The Western media too has raised questions about a number of details provided by U.S. government. Concealing the facts about how U.S. security forces reached the suspect tells that all is not well," according to the report in the Urdu-language newspaper Roznama Ummat.
"Two of the three people arrested [from the Dubai-bound plane] were not presented before the media. And the one who was a Pakistani was deliberately presented in front of the media to defame Pakistan," the report said, alleging that Faisal Shahzad was arrested just because he had visited Pakistani tribal areas during his 5-month stay in Pakistan.
"The FBI at first claimed that a white man was involved in suspected activities but afterward a Pakistani was arrested. The claim of the Taliban that it was their attempt was rejected by the U.S., yet now America is searching for some excuse to declare the Taliban as responsible for planting the bomb," the Urdu daily charged.
The newspaper described the purchase of the car without documentation as questionable, adding that that such a thing happening in a country-like the U.S. makes the whole story suspicious.
The report claimed that in the U.S., intelligence agencies are forging evidence to declare the vehicle as belonging Faisal Shahzad though it is owned by an American woman.
http://www.thememriblog.org/urdupashtu/blog_personal/en/26873.htm
Urdu Daily Sees Conspiracy, Says: Faisal Shahzad Arrested, Charged And Confessed In One Day, Too Good To Be True; U.S. Federal Attorney Is Hindu With A Jewish Wife
In Pakistan, a right-wing Urdu-language newspaper has alleged that there is a conspiracy behind the arrest of Pakistani-born U.S. citizen Faisal Shahzad in connection with the failed Times Square bombing.
The Urdu-language newspaper Roznama Nawa-i-Waqt noted that even under American laws, the suspect cannot be tried without proper investigations, which take time.
"The cases of Dr. Aafia [Siddiqui, who has been convicted in the U.S. of trying to kill American troops in Afghanistan] and other suspects took months to start, [but] Faisal Shahzad was arrested and confessed, and the case proceedings started in just a couple of days! These are question marks on the transparency of the procedure," the report noted.
"The facts that [U.S.] federal attorney [Preet Bharara] is a Hindu with a Jewish wife gives the story an air of a conspiracy against Pakistan jointly hatched by Indian and Israeli lobbies in the U.S.," the Urdu daily said.
The shifting of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammad's case to New York is also due to the efforts of the federal attorney, who is a personal friend and was a class fellow of President Barack Obama at Columbia Law School, the report noted.
According to some sources, conservative political forces that are against Obama's policies and want him to continue war against terrorism, a crusade to them, are behind this conspiracy, the Urdu daily alleged.
Questioning the theory behind sudden conversion of an upper class liberal youth like Faisal Shahzad into an Islamic militant, the report claimed that a number of Pakistani-American citizens are working as American agents and Faisal Shahzad could be one of them.
The report concluded with a claim that this conspiracy is aimed at pushing Pakistan Army toward another military operation in Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan, this time in North Waziristan.
http://www.thememriblog.org/urdupashtu/blog_personal/en/26885.htm
