http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3654052a12,00.html
ISLAMABAD: The movie salesman was selling jihad to the
converted.
The buyers thronging his stall on the sidelines of a
late-night rally in the Pakistani capital belonged to
a crowd organised by a sectarian Sunni Muslim group.
"This is the latest video of the beheadings," he told
his customers, as they pored over titles including
Slaughter of Americans in Iraq, Slaughter of Traitors
in Afghanistan and Taliban Celebrations.
In Pakistan, compelled to join a US-led global war on
terrorism after al Qaeda's September 11, 2001, attack
on the United States, anger has risen over what many
see as an attempt by the West to suppress Muslims
around the world.
But that is only part of the story. Pakistan is also
locked in a long struggle with its own demons,
particularly sectarian violence that has killed
thousands.
Three weeks ago, a suicide bomber killed at least 57
people at a prayer meeting in Karachi celebrating the
birth of the Prophet Mohammad.
At the other end of the country, in the Waziristan
tribal area bordering Afghanistan, the toll from weeks
of fighting between security forces and pro-Taliban
and al Qaeda tribesmen pushed towards 300.
The video seller didn't have the latest action from
the conflict on the Afghan border, but he had
something just as gruesome.
"This one is about the activities of mujahideen in
Waziristan and Afghanistan," the seller said.
Dated in December, and supposedly shot in Miranshah,
the main town in North Waziristan, it had footage of
hangings ordered by influential militant clerics.
The bodies of the hanged men, described as criminals
and bandits, were then dragged through the streets by
pick-up trucks, in a grisly demonstration of rough
justice in an area where the civil administration has,
according to tribesmen, collapsed.
"The commentary in them makes no bones about who is
producing them – they are Pakistani Talibs," said
Samina Ahmed, the Islamabad-based director of the
International Crisis Group's South Asia project.
For less than a dollar apiece, some VCDs glorify the
exploits of al Qaeda and Taliban fighters, promise 72
heavenly virgins for prospective suicide bombers and
prescribe beheadings for informers.
There are also training films on how to run a
guerrilla war, based on Islamist militants fighting
the Russian army in Chechnya.
Messages in the films put Presidents George W Bush,
Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan and Hamid Karzai of
Afghanistan at the top of a hit list for would-be
assassins in a war against what are described as the
American "crusader forces".
Musharraf has banned several militant organisations
since 2002, and just last year he launched yet another
campaign against groups stirring sectarian violence
between Pakistan's majority Sunni Muslims and minority
Shi'ites.
But some, such as Sipah-e-Sahaba (Soldiers of
Companions of the Prophet), keep bouncing back,
although they seem to be getting less space to put
their message across. The group organised the recent
late-night rally in Islamabad but under another name.
Irfan Ali runs an Islamic bookshop in Karachi and says
Musharraf's policies since September 11, 2001, have
definitely been bad for business.
"The fact is our business was doing very well when we
were selling jihadi literature," Ali lamented. "Now
our sales have come down drastically."
The owner of another bookshop in Karachi said such
material could always be arranged for trusted
customers.
"Jihadi literature, cassettes and VCDs are still
available but you will not find it openly. This
business has gone underground. It is only sold to
known acquaintances or reliable people," he said.
That said, it is not too hard to find the leader of
one of the most feared militant groups in Pakistan.
His message of radical Islam can be heard outside a
number of well-known mosques.
Maulana Masood Azhar, head of Jaish-i-Mohammad, has
kept a low profile for some time because of pressure
from Pakistan's security apparatus, according to some
analysts.
But outside Islamabad's Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, his
voice blares out from speakers from among the stalls
selling perfumes, skull caps, religious texts,
cassettes and videos after Friday prayers.
"Curse on the face of the Americans. . . Mullah Omar
and Osama are the light of our eyes. Whoever tries to
steal this light, we will rob them of their peace,"
Azhar shouts.
"Spread the message of Jihad in every street."
Not all Pakistani preachers of militant jihad are such
shadowy figures. Some are members of the National
Assembly, representatives of Islamist parties that
form the largest opposition block.
Maulana Mairaj-ud-Din, a legislator from South
Waziristan, is captured on a video titled Ghadaran, or
Traitors, inciting tribesmen to take up arms for the
cause.