Tag: Ali Jaleel

Maldivian terrorist was brainwashed in Pakistan, claims brother

The Maldivian citizen who conducted a terrorist attack against Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) headquarters in 2009, was brainwashed during his madrassa education in Pakistan, claims his brother.

On May 27, 2009, Ali Jaleel – along with two other men – stormed Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) headquarters in Lahore and detonated a car bomb that killed about 30 people and injured 300.

Jaleel allegedly received funding from a US citizen, Reaz Qadir Khan – currently charged in the US with conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist – to pay for admission into a terrorist training camp in Pakistan.

Jaleel was brainwashed while studying at the Pakistani madrassa Jamia Salafia seminary, his brother Jalla claimed in an investigative feature story, conducted by US publication The Oregonian.

“He had been brainwashed,” Jalla told the US publication. “He thought jihad was the best way to meet God.”

Jaleel began his studies at the Jamia Salafia seminary in Faisalabad, Pakistan, in 1995. When Jaleel returned to the Maldives a year after beginning his studies at the Pakistani madrassa, he was “different”, according to The Oregonian.

Jalla explained that in addition to the changes in Jaleel’s appearance – he grew a beard and wore salwars, a popular form of Pakistani dress – “Ali was righteous and distant”.

Although the brothers previously had a very close relationship, a rift began to develop due to Jaleel’s new-found ideology and behavior.

By 2001, jihad became the only thing that mattered to 22 year-old Jaleel, who spoke of emigrating to Yemen and “being a messenger for Allah” and had abandoned his previous dreams of becoming a “sports here”, according to Jalla.

Madrassa drive

In the late 1970’s, former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom wanted to westernise the islands to prepare Maldivians for the introduction of international luxury tourism and believed education was “the key”, according to The Oregonian.

However, few educational options were available in the Maldives beyond a 10th grade education, with opportunities to study abroad limited to “well connected” Maldivian families.

India and Pakistan responded by offering inexpensive postsecondary education opportunities to Maldivian citizens at religious schools, beginning in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s.

“It was very cheap. Pakistan said, ‘Give us your kids, we will teach them the Quran,'” President’s Office Spokesperson Masood Imad told The Oregonian, in regard to the “madrassa drive.”

Maldivian government officials began expressing their concern in 2006 that Maldivians were returning from their madrassa studies in Pakistan with radical beliefs, according to the US publication.

Imad claimed that the Maldivian government is no longer sending students to study in Pakistan, because “the risk is perceived to be too great”.

“When people say, ‘jihadis,’ we’re scared, damn scared,” Imad said. “It’s going to hurt our economy.”

Unclear government policy

Whether Maldivian students are still traveling to Pakistan for their postsecondary studies, or if there is a monitoring policy in place for the madrassas they are attending, remains unclear.

Islamic Affairs Minister Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed told Minivan News to ask the Education Minister.

The Education Minister Asim Ahmed and Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Abdul Samad Abdullah were not responding to calls at time of press.

Religious conservatism and extremist violence have been increasing in the Maldives over the past decade, while incidents of Maldivians joining overseas jihadist groups are becoming more common, according to a 2013 report published in the Combating Terrorism Center (CTC) Sentinel, a publication based out of the West Point military academy in the US.

The report found that education in foreign madrasas has also contributed to growing extremism within the Maldives, with students “unwittingly attending more radical madrasas” and preaching these views upon their return.

“The offer of free education in madrasas in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia is widely acknowledged as a core means of radicalising Maldivians locally, with well-meaning parents sending their children off on scholarships to ‘study Islam’,” the report states.

Following the 2007 terrorist attack in Male’s Sultan Park, “Gayoom himself warned of this problem”.

“Maldivians are influenced by what is happening in the world. They go to Pakistan, study in madrasas and come back with extreme religious ideas,” the report quoted Gayoom as saying.

However, in August 2012, the Maldivian government said there was no truth in claims Maldivian citizens were being radicalised at Pakistan-based madrassas, following the publication of the US State Department’s 2011 terrorism report.

Active steps had been taken against permitting clearance for local students to study in any madrassas in Pakistan, President’s Office spokesperson Abbas Adil Riza said at the time.

“No Maldivians right now are being trained in Pakistani madrassas. Steps are being taken to ensure this with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and authorities in Pakistan,” he said. “We will not issue visas to go there in this regard. So to say that such a threat exists is definitely not true.”

However, the following month, former State Minister of Education Aminath Ali highlighted the need to simplify the Pakistani visa procedure for Maldivian students hoping to enter the country’s higher-learning institutions.

In early 2010, then-Vice President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik told Indian media that young Maldivians are being recruited by militant groups in Pakistan and Afghanistan to wage ‘jihad’.

Waheed claimed an increasing number of young Maldivians “are embracing a version of Islam which is more strict than the traditional Islamic values [of the Maldives].”

In late 2010, a diplomatic cable was leaked that highlighted United States diplomats expressed concern back in October 2008 regarding the activities of “al-Qaida associates” in the Maldives.

“While many Maldivian participants of extremist online forums aimed to ultimately fight Coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, mid-October 2007 debrief information following the September 29 bombing in Male’ that targeted tourists indicates at least two of the operatives participated in the attack in exchange for travel from the islands after the operation and arranged study at a madrassa in Pakistan.”

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Trial delayed for US citizen accused of funding Maldivian terrorist in 2009 Lahore bombing

The trial of a US citizen who has been charged in the United States with conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist who helped carry out a deadly attack in Pakistan in 2009 has been postponed.

Reaz Qadir Khan, a 49 year-old waste water treatment plant operator for the city of Portland, US, was arrested on March 5 on charges of providing advice and funds to Maldivian national Ali Jaleel.

On May 27, 2009, Jaleel – along with two other men – stormed Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) headquarters in Lahore and detonated a car bomb that left around 23 people dead and a further 300 injured.

Khan’s trial in the Oregon State US District Court has been postponed by the presiding judge, Judge Michael W Mosman, who stated that lawyers need more preparation time given the case’s complexity, according to US publication The Oregonian.

The head of Khan’s legal defence team, Amy Baggio, told the presiding judge that she had received 29,000 pages of government documents regarding the case, the US publication reported in late April.

The documents were mostly Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigative reports, immigration papers and other documents, according to Assistant US Attorney Ethan D Knight, lead prosecutor for the case. Additionally, another 10,000 pages of paperwork, including financial records, emails and other documents, were to be given to the defense by the government.

Once underway, lawyers expect the trial to last approximately two weeks.

Status conferences related to the trial were held in April and another is scheduled for July 8, however it remains unclear when the trial will commence.

Baggio, who was previously hired by Khan, was designated by Judge Mosman to be paid with public funds as Khan’s court-appointed attorney, given that the case meets US Criminal Justice Act standards for providing representation, The Oregonian reported.

The criminal case defense is expected to be “very costly” and Khan lacks the ability to cover the expenses, said Oregon’s federal public defender Steven Wax.

Currently, Khan is taking a two-year unpaid leave of absence from his municipal job, however he will receive 18 months of paid health benefits for himself and his family, reported the US publication.

“The City is unable and/or unwilling to accommodate the restrictions placed on the employee by the court,” an agreement sent to Portland City Council reads.

Khan will be placed back on the city’s call-back list if he is found not guilty, or the charges against him are dismissed, however if found guilty his leave of absence and health benefits would cease immediately, according to the US publication.

Khan has pleaded not guilty, however he faces a potential maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.

Alleged support for terrorism

Prior to the attack, US media reported that in 2006 Khan had received an email from Jaleel “goading” him about his past devotion to seek martyrdom for Allah.

“Where are the words you said with tears in your eyes that ‘we shall strive until Allah’s word is superior or until we perish’???” the email stated, according to The Oregonian.

Following the message, Khan then allegedly communicated and provided financial backing through email to Jaleel and his family, making it possible for the Maldivian to attend a training camp in Pakistan ahead of the 2009 bomb attack.

The emails cited in the indictment against Khan – sent in October and November 2008 – were said to have included a coded note from Jaleel telling Khan that he needed US$2,500 to pay for admission into a terrorist training camp, and asked Khan take care of his family and educate his children.

Less than a week after the bombing, US$750 was allegedly wired from Khan to one of Jaleel’s wives in the Maldives from an Oregon store, according to a Portland FBI press release.

“Those who provide material support to terrorists are just as responsible for the deaths and destruction that follow as those who commit the violent acts,” said Greg Fowler, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Oregon.

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US citizen arrested for funding Maldivian terrorist in Lahore bombing

A US citizen has been charged in the States with conspiracy to provide material support to a Maldivian terrorist who helped carry out a deadly attack in Pakistan in 2009.

48-year-old Reaz Qadir Khan, a waste water treatment plant operator for the city of Portland, US, was arrested on Tuesday (March 5) on a charge of providing advice and funds to Maldivian national Ali Jaleel.

On May 27, 2009, Jaleel – along with two other men – stormed Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) headquarters in Lahore and detonated a car bomb that left around 23 people dead and a further 300 injured.

Prior to the attack, US media reported that in 2006 Khan had received an email from Jaleel “goading” him about his past devotion to seek martyrdom for Allah.

“Where are the words you said with tears in your eyes that ‘we shall strive until Allah’s word is superior or until we perish’???” the email stated, according to US publication The Oregonian.

Following the message, Khan had then allegedly communicated and provided financial backing through email to Jaleel and his family, making it possible for the Maldivian to attend a training camp in Pakistan ahead of the 2009 bomb attack.

The emails cited in the indictment against Khan – sent in October and November 2008 – were said to have included a coded note from Jaleel telling Khan that he needed US$2,500 to pay for admission into a terrorist training camp.

The Oregonian reported that Khan had replied to Jaleel instructing him to pick up the training camp money from one of his associates.

Jaleel, who later responded saying he only needed US$1000 of the US$2,450 that had been sent, was then advised by Khan to send the remaining money to his two wives in the Maldives, The Oregonian reported.

The indictment does not cite that there had been any other emails between November 2009 and the May 27, 2009 ISI attack.

However, US media reported that less than a week after the bombing, US$750 was wired from Khan to one of Jaleel’s wives from an Oregon store.

Khan, who has pleaded not guilty during a court appearance on Tuesday, could face life imprisonment if he is convicted at trial, US media reported.

According to The Oregonian, Khan must now remain in his Portland home until his trial on the terrorism-related charge begins.

Local media reported that Jaleel, who lived at H.Moscowge in Male, featured in a video on the internet showcasing his terrorist training and subsequent attack.

A member of Jaleel’s family told local newspaper Haveeru back in November 2009 that he had left “around a year ago” and that there had been “no further communication with him”.

Jaleel had been caught once before whilst on jihad and was sent back to Maldives. On 26 December 2006, he was also sentenced to two years’ house arrest for giving religious sermons and preaching without a licence, local media reported.

“Martyrdom was certain”

In a video released by Al Qaeda’s media outlet, 30-year-old Jaleel, referred to as Mus’ab Sayyid, can be seen speaking in front of the camera surrounded by an assortment of weaponry.

Jaleel calls for his teachers and those he knew who had taken the status of scholars to visit the Mujahideen and make “decisions” based on what they saw.

“I want my blood to be the bit of the carpet which the Mujahideen have painted from their blood. The red carpet which would take the Umar to its glory,” Jaleel says in the video.

The footage shows Jaleel going through various stages of training, including throwing what appears to be a hand grenade and firing various weapons. The video then cuts to footage of the attack.

A white van carrying armed men pulls up to what appears to be a police check point, before two men disembark and open fire on various individuals manning the post.

The van continues through the checkpoint before briefly stopping beside two men who had hidden behind a barricade, at which point the armed men appear to shoot them from inside the vehicle.

The video then shows the same white van pulling up to a large gate, before detonating the explosives.

The Pakistani government said at the time that the car bomb attack was carried out in apparent revenge for an army offensive against Taliban militants in that nation’s north-western Swat region.

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