The Daily DAWN -- 26 August 1999

Muttahida disputes death sentences
By Our Staff Correspondent

LONDON, Aug 25: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) on Wednesday released British Home Office letter to establish that Nadeem Nusrat, former political secretary of the MQM chief Altaf Hussain, was in London and not in Karachi at the time of killing of four American nationals as claimed by the Anti-Terrorist Court in its recent judgment.

"This is not a judgment but a pack of lies which has been delivered by the Anti-Terrorist Court judge at the behest of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif," Altaf Hussain told a news conference at his party's new International Secretariat in Colindale Area of north-west London.

The Home Office document showed to the international media was a Home Office letter dated 29th June 1992 saying that Nusrat Nadeem had arrived at London's Heathrow airport on Jan 27, 1992.

According to the document, he applied to the Home Office for asylum on June 29, 1992 and since then his passport No 6849884 is with the Home Office Department.

The four Americans, according to the ATC judge, were allegedly killed by the MQM workers including Nadeem Nusrat, on Nov 12, 1997, when Mr Nadeem was in London.

The judge, who sentenced Ahmad Saeed alias Saeed Bahram and Muhammad Saleem alias Denter Ganja, to death for their involvement in the murder of the four Americans and their Pakistani driver, had based his decision on the "confessional statements' of the above two MQM workers.

"This also proves that these are not voluntary confessional statements of Saeed and Saleem but extracted from them by the police through extreme torture," Altaf Hussain told reporters. "How can they claim that Nadeem Nusrat was with them when he was in London", he questioned.

"The judge claims that it has been proved that Nadeem Nusrat was with Saeed and Saleem holding Klashnikov. Is the ATC judge Hussain Buksh Khoso trying to prove that the British agencies and the government covertly cooperated with Mr Nadeem Nusrat? Does the judge trying to prove that the British government is an accomplice or an accessory or directly involved in the murders of the American citizens

According to British Home Office regulations, the passport remains with the Home Office from the date of filing an application for asylum till decision on that application.

Mr Hussain claimed that the judge had twice postponed the date for announcing his decision but even then "failed to hide the truth".

Mr Hussain also produced a copy of the statement of Louis J. Freeh, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, included in the US Department of Justice Report titled "Threats to US National Security" which was submitted before the Senate Select Committee on Jan 28, 1998 on the killing of four American citizens in Karachi to establish that even the US FBI had cleared the MQM of the attack on its citizens..

"Circumstances surrounding the Nov 12, 1997, ambush of four American businessmen in Karachi, Pakistan, suggest a link to the conviction of Aimal Kansi in a Virginia court for his 1995 attack on CIA workers outside the agency's headquarters," FBI Director J.Freeh had said in the report. "Although no clear motive has been established for the killings in Karachi, the attackers tracked the activities of the victims for several days and launched the attack within 36 hours of the verdict. Earlier, Kansi had predicted that 'his people' would retaliate for his prosecution."

It may be mentioned that Mr Kansi was sentenced on Nov 10, 1997 by a Virginia court and the four Americans were killed in Karachi on Nov 12, 1997.

He also produced another US Department of Justice Feb 4, 1999 report titled "The Threat to the United States posed by the Terrorists", which was presented before the US Senate Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee for the Department of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary and Related Agencies.

The report said: "....the November 1997 murder of four US businessmen and their driver in Karachi, Pakistan, believed to be in retaliation against the FBI's capture and rendition of Mir Amal Kansi."

He also quoted a March 7, 1999 report published in the Washington Post quoting US intelligence officials as claiming that the militant groups such as Harkat are suspected of killing six Americans in two Karachi street shootings.

MINORITIES: The MQM Chief also called upon the international media, which had come to attend the news conference, to appeal to the international human rights organizations and the international community to take up the matter of the MQM and other minorities with the International Court of Justice.

He said that the MQM was short of resources and cannot go to the international court of justice but wants the international human rights organizations to take up the case of human rights violations and genocide of Mohajir people.

EXTRADITION: Asked whether he fears that Pakistan will try to approach Britain for his extradition, Mr Hussain, who has already been given political asylum by the British government, said that he would welcome any such move from Islamabad.

"This is not Pakistan where the rulers will be able to influence the courts. Here not even Tony Blair can influence the courts," he said.