By Reuters
DERA ISMAIL KHAN: The Pakistani Taliban have threatened attacks against government, police and military officials if three of the late al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden’s widows were not released from Pakistani custody, a spokesman for the militant group said on Friday.
Taliban have warned that they would target the government officials and security forces if slain al Qaeda chief Osama bin laden's three widows, who have been charged with illegally entering and staying in Pakistan, were not freed. Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan declared bin Laden a "hero of Islam" and said, "If the family of Osama bin laden is not released, we will attack the judges, lawyers and security officials involved in their trial". He warned the militants would carry out suicide bombings against security forces and the government across the country. Interior Minister Rehman Malik had earlier said that the three women and their children were being held in a house in Islamabad and facing trial for illegally entering Pakistan.Pakistan’s government earlier charged the three widows with illegally entering and staying in the country, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Thursday. “If the family of Osama bin Laden is not released as soon as possible, we will attack the judges, lawyers and security officials involved in their trial,” Ehsanullah Ehsan of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) told Reuters.“We will carry out suicide bombings against security forces and the government across the country,” he added.Malik did not specify which court was dealing with the case. The three women will have to stand trial, but it was not clear what punishment they faced if convicted.Bin Laden was killed in a secret US raid in the garrison town of Abbottabad in May last year. The al Qaeda leader’s body was flown out by American Special Forces, but his three wives and an undisclosed number of children were among the 16 people detained by Pakistani authorities after the raid.Pakistan had previously said that it would repatriate the women to their countries of birth, after a government commission probing the bin Laden raid had completed its questioning. The commission also interviewed the family members for clues about how the al Qaeda chief managed to stay in the country undetected.The TTP vowed revenge after bin Laden’s death last year, and carried out high-profile attacks across the country. It bombed an American consulate convoy and laid siege to a naval base and killed paramilitary cadets. Ehsan also threatened attacks against Shad Begum, a women’s rights activist based in Peshawar.The US State Department honoured Begum with the 2012 International Women of Courage award at a ceremony in Washington on Thursday. “She works for a secular and infidel system in Pakistan,” Ehsan claimed. “That is why America has given her this prize.” ReutersPublished in The Express Tribune, March 10th, 2012.
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Taliban have warned that they would target the government officials and security forces if slain al Qaeda chief Osama bin laden's three widows, who have been charged with illegally entering and staying in Pakistan, were not freed. Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan declared bin Laden a "hero of Islam" and said, "If the family of Osama bin laden is not released, we will attack the judges, lawyers and security officials involved in their trial". He warned the militants would carry out suicide bombings against security forces and the government across the country. Interior Minister Rehman Malik had earlier said that the three women and their children were being held in a house in Islamabad and facing trial for illegally entering Pakistan.Pakistan’s government earlier charged the three widows with illegally entering and staying in the country, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Thursday. “If the family of Osama bin Laden is not released as soon as possible, we will attack the judges, lawyers and security officials involved in their trial,” Ehsanullah Ehsan of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) told Reuters.“We will carry out suicide bombings against security forces and the government across the country,” he added.Malik did not specify which court was dealing with the case. The three women will have to stand trial, but it was not clear what punishment they faced if convicted.Bin Laden was killed in a secret US raid in the garrison town of Abbottabad in May last year. The al Qaeda leader’s body was flown out by American Special Forces, but his three wives and an undisclosed number of children were among the 16 people detained by Pakistani authorities after the raid.Pakistan had previously said that it would repatriate the women to their countries of birth, after a government commission probing the bin Laden raid had completed its questioning. The commission also interviewed the family members for clues about how the al Qaeda chief managed to stay in the country undetected.The TTP vowed revenge after bin Laden’s death last year, and carried out high-profile attacks across the country. It bombed an American consulate convoy and laid siege to a naval base and killed paramilitary cadets. Ehsan also threatened attacks against Shad Begum, a women’s rights activist based in Peshawar.The US State Department honoured Begum with the 2012 International Women of Courage award at a ceremony in Washington on Thursday. “She works for a secular and infidel system in Pakistan,” Ehsan claimed. “That is why America has given her this prize.” ReutersPublished in The Express Tribune, March 10th, 2012.
