Page 186 - Encyclopedia Of Terrorism

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Harakat ul-Mujahidin———163

Harakat ul-Ansar, which had a mostly Pakistani would kill 100 Americans for every Muslim killed by
membership, was established to support Pakistani the United States.
governance in the states of Jammu and Kashmir. The On December 24, 1999, a group of men believed
largely Muslim country of Pakistan and the largely to be members of Harakat ul-Mujahidin hijacked Indian
Hindu country of India have long quarreled over which Airlines Flight 814, which was carrying 189 people
should have sovereignty in Jammu and Kashmir; from Katmandu, Nepal, to New Delhi. The hijackers
armed groups within the two states also support inde- stabbed to death a 25-year-old passenger and demanded
pendence. Once established, Harakat ul-Ansar quickly the release of more than 30 militants, including Azhar.
received backing from the Pakistani government; Eventually the plane began to run out of fuel, and
in 1994 the group was granted membership in a the pilot landed in Amritsar, India. A delay in refuel-
Pakistani-based umbrella association of Muslim, pro- ing made the hijackers nervous, and they forced the
Pakistani militant groups that operate in Jammu and pilot to take off. The plane was allowed to land and
Kashmir. refuel in Lahore, Pakistan. Then the hijackers forced
In September of that year, Harakat ul-Ansar kid- the pilot to fly to Dubai, where the body of the stabbed
napped two British citizens on vacation in Kashmir; passenger was unloaded, and finally to Kandahar,
the two were eventually released. The same month, Afghanistan, where the plane, still filled with passen-
group members participated in the kidnapping of four gers, sat on a runway for six days while Indian author-
Westerners in New Delhi, India. In that case, Indian ities negotiated with the hijackers.
police arrested the kidnappers and freed the captives. On December 31, 1999, an agreement was reached.
The New Delhi kidnappings were apparently under- India released Azhar and two other militants, includ-
taken to secure hostages to trade for the release of ing Ahmed Omar Sheikh, a Harakat ul-Mujahidin
Maulana Masood Azhar, also known as Wali Azam, a member who had been jailed for the 1994 New Delhi
Harakat ul-Ansar leader arrested in Jammu and kidnappings. Both men were released in Kandahar,
Kashmir by India in early 1994. but eventually made their way to Pakistan. Shortly
In July 1995, a Harakat ul-Ansar faction called after his release, Azhar founded Jaish-e-Mohammed,
Al Faran kidnapped six Westerners who were hiking a rival militant group espousing an even more radical
through Kashmir. The kidnappers demanded the release brand of militant Islam.
of several jailed militants, including Azhar. One of the In December 2001, Pakistani authorities placed
captives escaped, but the headless and mutilated body Azhar under house arrest as part of a crackdown on
of a second was found a month after the kidnapping. radical groups following the September 11 attacks in
The remaining four were never found and are believed the United States and the suicide attack on the Indian
to have been killed by their captors in the winter of Parliament complex in New Delhi. The New Delhi
1995. Harakat ul-Ansar initially denied responsibility attack was linked to Jaish-e-Mohammed and another
for the kidnappings, but evidence strongly pointed to radical group, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba. Sheikh, who was
the group. also believed to have aligned himself with Jaish-e-
In response to the kidnappings, the United States Mohammed, was condemned to death in July 2002
designated Harakat ul-Ansar as a terrorist organi- after being convicted of the murder of Wall Street
zation in 1997, leading Pakistan to reduce its support Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. Members of Harakat
of the group. Following the U.S. designation, the ul-Mujahidin are also believed to have participated in
group changed its name from Harakat ul-Ansar Pearl’s kidnapping and murder.
(“Movement of Helpers”) to Harakat ul-Mujahidin The United States has frozen Harakat ul-Mujahidin’s
(“Movement of Holy Warriors”). During 1998 Hara- U.S. assets; in January 2002, in a significant reversal
kat ul-Mujahidin was active in the fighting between of earlier policy, Pakistan banned the organization
Sunni and Shiite Muslims in the Punjab province of and arrested many members. Despite these setbacks,
Pakistan. many observers fear that the remnants of Harakat
Several members of Harakat ul-Mujahidin died in ul-Mujahidin will join forces with surviving members
August 1998 when the United States launched a cruise of other Muslim militant organizations such as Al
missile attack on a bin Laden training camp in Qaeda, Jaish-e-Mohammed, and Lashkar-e-Tayyiba to
Afghanistan. The following year, in a press conference attack Western and government targets in Pakistan and
in Islamabad, Pakistan, Khalil announced that his group Afghanistan.