Pak Supreme Court looses the dogs of war

Times:

Dozens of suspected Islamic militants have been released from prison without trial in Pakistan in a direct challenge to President Musharraf by the country’s judiciary.

Most had been seized by the notorious Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) and held, without being charged, for periods of up to three years. Also freed were a number of critics of General Musharraf’s regime and activists demanding autonomy in the southwestern province of Balochistan.

The move, ordered by the Supreme Court, is likely to raise concern in Britain and the United States over Pakistan’s continued role as an ally in the War on Terror. It also highlights the erosion of General Musharraf’s authority after he was forced to reinstate Pakistan’s chief justice, a decision that has emboldened legal challenges to his troubled administration.

The release was welcomed by human rights groups who have campaigned on behalf of hundreds of people who have gone missing in Pakistan since 2001 and the al-Qaeda attacks in the US. Late last year Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, the Chief Justice, ordered the intelligence service to charge or release all those who had been detained.

The most prominent figure to be released this week was Mohammed Naeem Noor Khan, whose arrest in Lahore in 2004 was seen as a breakthrough by Pakistan’s intelligence service. Shortly after his arrest Pakistani investigators had announced that Khan had planned terrorist attacks in Britain and the US. He was described as a crucial link between Osama bin Laden’s inner circle, holed up in mountainous terrain in Pakistan’s lawless tribal region, and al-Qaeda’s operatives in Britain and other parts of the world.

Information obtained from Khan is believed to have led to the arrest of Dahron Bharot, also known as Eassa al Hindi, the head of an al-Qaeda cell in London and nine others. Bharot has been sentenced to 20 years in jail. It is unclear whether Khan remains in Pakistan. Aleem Nasir, a German national of Pakistani origin, was also released. He was detained by the ISI earlier this year at Lahore airport as he prepared to board a flight home. He was never charged. Hafiz Basit, 26, was freed after three years in illegal detention. He was picked up by the ISI from his house in Faisalabad in 2004. His arrest was never acknowledged by the Pakistani authorities.

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It is not surprising the terrorist rights groups would be excited about the release of enemy combatants. But, this is just another argument for why these people should be held at Gitmo and out of the reach of courts which are not concerned with the prosecution of the war. these killers would just as soon kill the judges and the terrorist rights lawyers and anyone. It is very foolish to set them free to renew their war effort against us. Next time authorities will be reluctant to take them alive. The Guardian has more on Khan's release. There may be a slim chance that the release was meant to draw al Qaeda into an attempt to contact him. It is not a chance I would bet on.