August 19, 2009

Questions ongoing for Maulvi Omar

Pakistani intelligence officials have been questioning the chief spokesman for the Taliban in the country, who was arrested on Monday.
........................
Maulvi Omar was arrested in the Mohmand tribal area while travelling to South Waziristan, near the Afghan border.
Pakistani officials say he has confirmed that the group's leader, Baitullah Mehsud, was killed in a US drone attack earlier this month.
The Taliban had previously denied US and Pakistani reports that he was dead.
Correspondents say Maulvi Omar was never a military commander, but as a senior and trusted associate of Baitullah Mehsud, he will be able to tell his interrogators much about Taliban plans and strategy.
Mr Omar was the second prominent Taliban figure to be arrested in 24 hours.
Qari Saifullah, a commander affiliated to Harkat Jihad-e-Islami, was detained while being treated at a private hospital in Islamabad, officials said, reportedly after being wounded in a missile strike.
Both men are still being questioned about their possible roles in militant attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan, police said.
Maulvi Omar was captured along with two associates in the village of Khawazeo in Mohmand on Monday night. Local tribal elders reportedly assisted the security forces.
Footage reportedly showing Maulvi Omar being arrested
Mr Omar comes from Bajaur, a tribal area in the North West where the Taliban established themselves early on.
He was the official spokesman for Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an umbrella organisation of regional and tribal-based Pakistani militant groups, and is said to have been a senior aide of Baitullah Mehsud.
Correspondents say his arrest is significant because Mr Omar had been acting as a liaison between the various Taliban groups and was a key figure in the Taliban's propaganda campaigns.

No comments:

Post a Comment