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Osama bin Laden's bodyguard freed by Pakistan
Pakistan has freed a senior al-Qaeda commander, who served as a bodyguard to Osama bin Laden, according to a senior security source, raising fresh questions about the country's commitment to tackling terrorism.
Pakistan has freed a senior al-Qaeda commander, who served as a bodyguard to Osama bin Laden, according to a senior security source, raising fresh questions about the country's commitment to tackling terrorism.
By Rob Crilly, Islamabad, Ashfaq Yusufzai in Peshawar and Dean Nelson in New Delhi
5:38PM BST 28 Sep 2011
Amin al-Haq, who escaped from Afghanistan with the al-Qaeda leader in 2001 and went on to become a key financial aide, was detained in Lahore three years ago by Pakistan's intelligence agency.
A senior security source in the north-western Pakistani town of Peshawar, where he had been held, said the Inter-Services Intelligence agency had passed al-Haq on to the police before he was released earlier this month.
"Amin al-Haq had been arrested mistakenly, therefore, the police failed to prove any charge of his association with Osama bin Laden and the court set him free," he told The Daily Telegraph.
Pakistan has a poor track record of convicting terrorists, blamed in part on an ill-equipped police force and an overstretched judicial service.
However, critics accuse elements of the security services of turning a blind eye to extremist groups.
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Last week, Adml Mike Mullen, America's most senior military officer, accused the country of "exporting violence" and using the Haqqani insurgent network to wage a proxy war on US troops in Afghanistan.
His words were echoed by the Indian prime minister, who said his country had been warning the world about links between Pakistan's ISI intelligence service and terrorist groups for several years but had been ignored.
Manmohan Singh said Adml Mullen's allegations were "something which is nothing new to us. In fact when we were the first to flag this issue earlier, the world didn't believe us." The release of al-Haq will be a further embarrassment to Pakistan at a time it faces huge pressure to act against militant groups.
Rahimullah Yusufzai, an analyst who has interviewed senior al-Qaeda figures including bin Laden, said his release was a puzzle.
"They could only have released him with the say so of America or if maybe there really was no evidence or he was not that important," he said.
As the security coordinator of the Black Guard, the elite unit charged with protecting bin Laden, he would once have been in close contact with the al-Qaeda leader, according to The Long War Journal which has profiled the Afghan-born doctor.
Al-Haq, who is thought to be 51, has a long history with armed groups.
He fought Soviet forces during the 1980s and was part of the Afghan delegation which travelled to Sudan in the 1996 to bring bin Laden to Afghanistan The US froze al-Haq's assets after the 9-11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.
In the weeks that followed, he fought at the Tora Bora cave complex, where the senior al-Qaeda leadership was holed up and helped them escape into Pakistan.
In 2007, The Daily Telegraph picked up his trail close to Tora Bora, where international forces were once again battling al-Qaeda. Local tribal leaders said he was injured in a bombing raid and smuggled back across the border to Pakistan, where he was arrested little more than four months later.
5:38PM BST 28 Sep 2011
Amin al-Haq, who escaped from Afghanistan with the al-Qaeda leader in 2001 and went on to become a key financial aide, was detained in Lahore three years ago by Pakistan's intelligence agency.
A senior security source in the north-western Pakistani town of Peshawar, where he had been held, said the Inter-Services Intelligence agency had passed al-Haq on to the police before he was released earlier this month.
"Amin al-Haq had been arrested mistakenly, therefore, the police failed to prove any charge of his association with Osama bin Laden and the court set him free," he told The Daily Telegraph.
Pakistan has a poor track record of convicting terrorists, blamed in part on an ill-equipped police force and an overstretched judicial service.
However, critics accuse elements of the security services of turning a blind eye to extremist groups.
Related Articles
Revealed: Pakistan troops ambushed US soldiers in 2007
27 Sep 2011
Pakistan's top commanders meet amid Haqqani accusations
25 Sep 2011
Related Links
You might like:British shipwreck with a fortune in silver on board discovered in Atlantic26 Sep 2011(Telegraph News)Forest Boy refuses to make public appeal: 'I just want to get on with my life'27 Sep 2011(Telegraph News)Boy stabbed to death at home in 'botched contract killing'28 Sep 2011(Telegraph News)
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Last week, Adml Mike Mullen, America's most senior military officer, accused the country of "exporting violence" and using the Haqqani insurgent network to wage a proxy war on US troops in Afghanistan.
His words were echoed by the Indian prime minister, who said his country had been warning the world about links between Pakistan's ISI intelligence service and terrorist groups for several years but had been ignored.
Manmohan Singh said Adml Mullen's allegations were "something which is nothing new to us. In fact when we were the first to flag this issue earlier, the world didn't believe us." The release of al-Haq will be a further embarrassment to Pakistan at a time it faces huge pressure to act against militant groups.
Rahimullah Yusufzai, an analyst who has interviewed senior al-Qaeda figures including bin Laden, said his release was a puzzle.
"They could only have released him with the say so of America or if maybe there really was no evidence or he was not that important," he said.
As the security coordinator of the Black Guard, the elite unit charged with protecting bin Laden, he would once have been in close contact with the al-Qaeda leader, according to The Long War Journal which has profiled the Afghan-born doctor.
Al-Haq, who is thought to be 51, has a long history with armed groups.
He fought Soviet forces during the 1980s and was part of the Afghan delegation which travelled to Sudan in the 1996 to bring bin Laden to Afghanistan The US froze al-Haq's assets after the 9-11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.
In the weeks that followed, he fought at the Tora Bora cave complex, where the senior al-Qaeda leadership was holed up and helped them escape into Pakistan.
In 2007, The Daily Telegraph picked up his trail close to Tora Bora, where international forces were once again battling al-Qaeda. Local tribal leaders said he was injured in a bombing raid and smuggled back across the border to Pakistan, where he was arrested little more than four months later.
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