Arif Qasmani of Karachi was specifically named by the notification as involved in the Mumbai suburban train blasts of July, 2006, and in the Samjotha Express blast of February, 2007.
The notification said that “Nasir Javaid is an LeT official involved in LeT operations and has served as an LeT commander in Pakistan. From 2001 to at least 2008, Nasir Javaid was also involved in LeT military training. In mid-2001, Javaid assumed command of an LeT training center in Pakistan.”
The notification did not specify whether the evidence against the four designated individuals cited in it was collected by the US intelligence or whether some of it came from India too. Earlier on June 29, 2009, the Department of Public Information of the UN Security Council had announced as follows: “The Al Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee approved the addition of three entries to its Consolidated List of individuals and entities subject to the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo set out in paragraph 1 of Security Council resolution 1822 (2008) adopted under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations.”
The three names added by the UN Committee to its list were those of Abu Mohammad Ameen al-Peshawari, Arif Qasmani and Mohammad Yahya Mujahid. The name of Nasir Javaid did not figure in the list issued by the UN Committee possibly because there was no evidence of his involvement with Al Qaeda and/or the Afghan Taliban. The evidence against the three persons cited in the notification of the UN Committee was the same as subsequently cited by the US Treasury Department.
“¦he received money from Dawood Ibrahim for the July 2006 bombings in Mumbai; second, he provided financial and logistics support to Al Qaeda and its leaders; and third, he provided safe haven to the leaders of the Afghan Taliban.
The UN Committee notification had one additional detail which was not there in the Treasury Department notification — namely, all the three persons were in custody as of June, 2009. While it did not mention where they were in custody, it must have been in Pakistan. It also did not say when they were arrested.
However, in a report on the Mumbai terrorist attack of November, 2008, carried by Asia Times Online on December 2, 2008, Syed Saleem Shahzad, its Special Correspondent in Pakistan, had indicated that Arif Qasmani, whom he described as a millionaire businessman of Karachi, was already in detention in Pakistan because of the ISI’s anger over the double role allegedly played by him — namely, assisting the ISI in its operations in India through the LeT and at the same time assisting the Pakistani Taliban in its operations against the Pakistan Army.
Shahzad reported as follows: “The most important asset of the ISI, the Laskhar-e-Taiba (LeT), was split after 9/11. Several of its top-ranking commanders and office bearers joined hands with al-Qaeda militants. A millionaire Karachi-based businessman, Arif Qasmani, who was a major donor for ISI-sponsored LeT operations in India, was arrested for playing a double game — he was accused of working with the ISI while also sending money to Pakistan’s South Waziristan tribal area for the purchase of arms and ammunition for Al Qaeda militants.”
Shahzad did not mention when Qasmani was arrested, but from the wording of his article it appeared that he must have been arrested before the 26/11 Mumbai strike. Earlier, the Dawn of Karachi had reported on December 29, 2005, as follows: “The Sindh High Court asked the federal interior secretary on Wednesday to file, within 10 days, a rejoinder to a petition alleging that a man was being detained by a federal law enforcement agency unlawfully. Petitioner Javeria Arif submitted through Advocate Nihal Hashmi that her husband, Arif Qasmani, was picked up by law enforcement personnel from his KDA Scheme residence on November 29 for his suspected links with Al Qaeda and the Taliban. No case was registered against him, nor was he produced before a magistrate for remand.
The police were informed but was of no help to her. An additional advocate-general informed a division bench, comprising Justices Mushir Alam and Athar Saeed, that the provincial government had nothing to do with the matter but he required more time to make a formal statement on behalf of the police. Adjourning further hearing to January 19, the bench expressed its concern that, judging by the number of petitions being filed in this behalf, the incidence of ‘disappearance’ of people was on the increase. It observed that the government agencies were legally obliged to protect the life and liberty of citizens and they should act in accordance with the law.”
On December 1, 2005, Shahzad reported to the Italian news agency AKI (Adnkronos International) as follows: “Arif Qasmani is a veteran jihadi, having fought against the Russian invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s, and been associated with the armed struggle in Indian-held Kashmir. He was picked up by Pakistani security forces last October but released a few days later. Now Qasmani is once again missing. According to his family, he was in Karachi and departed for Lahore two days ago but since he left home his whereabouts are unknown.” Around the same time, he reported to Asia Times Online as follows: “Arif Qasmani was a part of a high-level November 14 meeting in Islamabad held to initiate a process for peace between the Afghan resistance and coalition forces led by the US.”
The same day, Amir Mir, the well-known Pakistani journalist, who writes for sections of the Pakistani media and some of whose articles are also carried by sections of the Indian media, reported as follows: “One of the four Pakistanis who reportedly held a clandestine meeting with the visiting American Undersecretary of State for Public Affairs, Karen Hughes and other senior US State Department officials at Serena Hotel in Islamabad on November 14, 2005, to broker a deal between the Taliban and the United States is believed to have been kidnapped by the Pakistani intelligence agencies.”
”Arif Qasmani was a part of a high-level November 14 meeting in Islamabad held to initiate a process for peace between the Afghan resistance and coalition forces led by the US.”
He added: “Previously linked with the now defunct Lashkar-e-Toiba, a militant outfit active in the Indian-administered Kashmir, Arif Qasmani is considered close to Javed Ibrahim Paracha, a former member of the National Assembly from Kohat district of the NWFP. Paracha, who is also the chairman of the World Prisoners’ Relief Forum, claimed on November 17, 2005, that he was requested by the Americans during their Islamabad meeting to serve as a bridge between Washington, the Taliban and their Arab comrades for the purpose of ‘reconciliation’. According to Paracha, Arif Qasmani has been picked up by the Pakistani intelligence agencies without any justification. ‘Qasmani went missing on Tuesday after he had left Karachi for Lahore by plane which was supposed to take off at 8 in the morning. His wife has informed me that Qasmani has not yet reached Lahore where he was supposed to hold a business meeting. I understand that he has been arrested by the sensitive agencies. He was earlier detained in August 2005. His family members now fear for his life’, Paracha said.
He further reported: “Paracha, who is also Chairman, International Rabita Jehad Council, said those who met the Americans on November 14 and discussed the possibility of negotiating with the Afghan resistance leaders included (besides him) Arif Qasmani, Khalid Khawaja and Shah Abdul Aziz of MMA (Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, a religious coalition then in power in the NWFP) from Karak district in NWFP. ‘There is every possibility that Qasmani has been detained for investigations in connection with the November 14 meeting’, Paracha added. Khalid Khawaja, a former officer with the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) said, ‘I have just met Arif Qasmani’s wife in Karachi. She is much disturbed. She is shocked and believes that Qasmani has been kidnapped by the agencies who had previously detained him in August this year’. Khawaja said the family of the kidnapped businessman is seriously considering approaching the court of law for his recovery. ‘I appeal to the government to inform his family members about his exact whereabouts. The government should ensure that Qasmani is recovered as early as possible’, he added.”
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