Former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Mirza Aslam Beg does not believe that Brigadier Ali Khan and four other officers have been arrested on the grounds of having contacts with a banned organization, the Hizb-ut-Tehrir. "There are some other reasons behind these arrests, which, the present army leadership is concealing," he told The News, a leading newspaper of Pakistan.

::::::::

Former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Mirza Aslam Beg does not believe that Brigadier Ali Khan and four other officers have been arrested on the grounds of having contacts with a banned organization, the Hizb-ut-Tehrir. "There are some other reasons behind these arrests, which, the present army leadership is concealing," he told The News, a leading newspaper of Pakistan.

Interestingly, BBC Urdu's Asif Farooqi   Brigadier Ali Khan, reports that   Brigadier Ali Khan had been highly critical of the Pakistani army's high command over its relationship with the US.

Un-named colleagues of Brig Ali Khan were quoted by the BBC as saying that he was an officer with a distinguished career, a gold-medallist who was consistently promoted. But he had been exerting strong pressure on the top echelons of Pakistan's military to stop co-operating with American forces in the fight against Taliban and al-Qaeda insurgents, army officers who served with the brigadier during his 32-year career told the BBC.

The brigadier joined the army in 1979 and came from a humble background in Pakistan's Punjab province. But his career hit a roadblock when he openly criticized Gen Pervez Musharraf when he was still army chief-of-staff, the BBC said adding:

"At an army course at a prestigious military college in Quetta, Brig Khan asked Gen Musharraf why he would not divulge the details of an agreement with the US to the Pakistani public. The brigadier also said the "limits" of co-operation with the US on "the war on terror" should be clearly defined. A senior military officer who was present at the occasion told the BBC that Gen Musharraf was clearly unhappy with the questions, and had asked around about the officer. A few weeks later, the army promotion board held its regular meeting under Gen Musharraf. Brig Ali, who had been tipped for promotion to major general, was passed over. Successive promotion boards rejected Brig Ali while his colleagues and subordinates continued to rise up the promotion ladder, overtaking him. Indeed, to date, Brig Khan is the oldest brigadier in the Pakistani army.

 "His colleagues thought he would be unable to withstand a career going nowhere and would seek early retirement. But they were soon proved wrong. The brigadier told his colleagues he had more to accomplish in his job. It soon became clear what he meant by that. Brig Khan started writing letters to army generals, some of whom were his former colleagues, with suggestions on how to become "self reliant" and "to purge the army of the American influence".

 According to BBC Grid Ali khan told senior officers such as Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kayani that Pakistan's "unconditional" support to the Americans was causing resentment in the lower ranks of the army. He said that "growing" American involvement in Pakistan - especially in its military affairs - was negatively affecting the morale of the armed forces. An officer who received one of these letters said that after coming to know that Gen Kayani wanted this sort of correspondence to end, he spoke with his former colleague and politely told him to refrain from annoying the senior leadership. "But Ali wouldn't listen to us. He thought his input was necessary to save the institution he was serving and loved," the officer said.

Brig Ali even wrote to the President Asif Ali Zardari suggesting ways to make Pakistan economically self-reliant by freeing the country of American aid. Khan urged him to abolish the perks and privileges given to senior civil and military officials.

After the Osama Bin Laden episode, he was invited to a meeting on May 5 by his former student and now his boss, Lieutenant General Javed Iqbal at the army headquarters the BBC report said. The question that officers were asked at this meeting was how to pursue an inquiry into the May 2 US commando operation in Abbottabad allegedly killing Osama Bin Laden.

One officer present in the meeting was quoted as saying that all had been going well until it was Brig Khan's turn to speak. In his opinion, "the culprits who had hidden Bin Laden' and allowed the Americans to get away with breaching Pakistan's sovereignty were to be found within the army. Gen Javed Iqbal was furious at the end of the meeting. As it turned out, Brig Khan's views were not those of a lone wolf - he had managed to persuade some of his fellow officers of the veracity of his case. Gen Iqbal promptly told the corps commanders what had happened the following day at a meeting chaired by Gen Kayani. That same evening Brig Khan was arrested.

The BBC quoted army officials as saying that the problem is that his anti-American views and opinions on self reliance were getting popular with middle and lower ranking officers.

Tellingly, the findings of two Pew Research Center surveys of April and May 2011 reflected widespread anti-Americanism in Pakistan. The recent wave of the anti-Americanism, started with the arrest and thereafter release of CIA agent Raymond Davis, who in the broad day light killed two Pakistanis. The incident of May 2, 2011, and attack on PNS Mehran, destroying the surveillance aircrafts (P-3C Orion) have further fuelled this hatred.

"Brigadier held for links with CIA-backed militants"

According to the Nation, Brigadier Ali Khan, who was appointed at the Regulation Directorate in GHQ back in May 2009, came under the surveillance radar of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Military Intelligence (MI) earlier this year. After almost six months of surveillance, the ISI and MI in a joint operation, picked up the brigadier from outside his residence. The intelligence authorities reportedly ran a check on him after some "suspicious' people were found frequently visiting his home. The call records of Khan's cell phone confirmed the suspicions of intelligence agencies.

The Nation quoted sources as saying that Brigadier Ali Khan was linked to the section of militants that had direct ties with the Central Investigation Agency (CIA) and the military intelligence agencies arrested him to probe this connection.

Brigadier Ali Khan was detained last month but his arrest was announced only on Tuesday. Military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told Reuters on Wednesday that the four majors had been questioned but had not been detained. "They are being questioned in relation to the brigadier case," he said.

Not the first time

Brigadier Ali Khan is the not the first officer who has been arrested under the suspicion of having links to Hizb-ul-Tahrir. Earlier, the military police arrested Colonel Shahid Bashir, the commanding officer of Shamsi airbase, on May 4, 2009 on the same charge. His two aides, including a former Squadron Leader of Pakistan Air Force, Nadeem Ahmed Shah, and a US green-card holder, mechanical engineer, Owais Ahmed Shah were also arrested.

According to the charge-sheet framed against Colonel Bashir, he had provided some secret and sensitive information about the Shamsi airbase located in southwestern Balochistan, which is reportedly being used by the US forces to attack Afghanistan, and carry out drone attacks on Pakistan's northern tribal belt, while his civilian aides were hatching terrorist attack on the airbase on the basis of the information provided by Colonel Shahid. The accused, who deny charges against them, may get the death penalty under army rules if proven guilty.

In mid 1990s, a group of army officers, led by Major General Zaheer-ul-Islam Abbasi, were arrested on the charge of trying to coup the then army and civilian leadership in order to bring about an "Islamic revolution" in the country. General Zaheer and his aides included brigadier, colonel, and major ranking officers, faced the court martial, and were sent behind the bars for seven years.

In 2004, various low-ranking military personnel were convicted in connection with attempts on the life of former military ruler General Pervez Musharraf.

Focus on Hizb-ut-Tahrir

Brigadier Brigadier Ali Khan's arrest brings anti-Zionst Hizb-ut-Tahrir into focus. According to the introduction of Hizb-ut-Tahrir as given on Wikipedia, "Hizb-ut-Tahrir" is an international pan-Islamic political organization whose goal is for all Muslim countries to unify as an Islamic state or caliphate ruled by Islamic law and with a caliph head of state elected by Muslims.

The former Chief of Army Staff General Asam Beg says Hizb-ut-Tahrir is purely a non-violent organization which neither forces its agenda nor plans to do so. "Their people want the implementation of Shariah through a convincing mechanism and their books, some of them I have read, are a research work." Beg told The News, he was surprised when General Musharraf had banned the HT and "I do not think any one else as USA had asked the dictator to declare it a terrorist organization.

Hizb-ut-Tahrir was extremely critical of former military dictator Pervez Musharraf and his pro-American policies so Musharraf banned it in Pakistan. Yet the organization seems to face no difficulty in disseminating its message to the public through posters, seminars, literature and even rallies. Hizb ut-Tahrir displayed hundreds of banners across the country in order to promote its nationwide "caliphate" rally on November 5, 2010. Few cases have ever been registered against members of the organization for participating in the activities of a banned group and the very few that do get reported are rarely ever prosecuted, with most Hizb ut-Tahrir members being released after a few days of detention and questioning.

Hizb ut-Tahrir activists have been able to regularly distribute their press releases and pictures of the group's events to virtually all major news organizations in Pakistan. The group's website is also still accessible in Pakistan and does not appear to have been blocked by the National Responses Centre of the Federal Investigation Agency.

Hizb ut-Tahrir is strongly anti-Zionist and calls Israel an "illegal entity". Wikipedia says some observers believe Hizb-ut-Tahrir is the victim of false allegations of connections to terrorism, pointing out that the organization explicitly commits itself to non-violence. Others argue that the group's opposition to violence is tactical and temporary, and that it works to create a politically charged atmosphere conducive to terrorism."

According to Hizb-ul-Tahrir's website, the founder of this group was a Palestinian by the name of Shaikh Taqiul Deen Al Nabahani who was born in Haifa, Palestine in 1909. He got his early education from his native village, and then went to Al Azhar University in Egypt for further education. Later, he worked as a teacher, and then as a judge in many Palestinian cities.

After the Israeli invasion of Palestine in 1948, he moved with his family to Lebanon. He formed Hizb-ul-Tahrir 1952, and became its leader. He authored several books, papers, and fliers which are counted as the roots for this group. After the death of Shaikh Al Nabahani in 1979; Abdul Qadim Zallume from Jordan took over as the new leader of the group. In 2003 Ata Khalil Abu-Rashta, a Palestinian civil engineer, replaced Zallume, who died later that year. 

Hizb-ul-Tahrir's headquarters were moved to London. Its multi language website is also reportedly operated from London. Following the July 7, 2005 London bombings the British government announced its intention to ban the organization but abandoned the ban. According to The Independent Prime Minister Tont Blair "shelved the ban after warnings from police, intelligence chiefs, and civil liberties groups that it is a non-violent group, and driving it underground could backfire," and according to the Observer because the Home Office believed a legal ban would not stick. [Wikipedia]

Authors Bio:

Author and journalist.
Author of
Islamic Pakistan: Illusions & Reality;
Islam in the Post-Cold War Era;
Islam & Modernism;
Islam & Muslims in the Post-9/11 America.
American Muslims in Politics.
Islam in the 21st Century: Challanges, conspiracies & Chaos
Muslim Word in the New Global Order
Currently working as free lance journalist.
Executive Editor of American Muslim Perspective: www.amperspective.com