October 23, 2002	Wednesday	Sha’aban 16,1423

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RAWALPINDI, Oct 22: Dr Amir Aziz, picked by the Federal Bureau of Investigations for suspected links with Taliban and Al Qaeda, had first interacted with Jihadis as a humanitarian worker, his friends here revealed.

Dr Aziz, a surgeon and former chief executive of Jinnah Hospital, his friends said, initially got associated with the Kashmiri Mujahideen, whom he trained in establishing advanced surgery and dressing stations.

During the same period, he became inclined towards religion and started sporting a beard. Moved by the miserable condition of the Afghan and Kashmiri refugees living in Pakistan, Dr Aziz later started humanitarian work for them. He supported them by providing free medical treatment and financial assistance. He reportedly raised funds for some of the Jihadi outfits also.

He got so much involved in the humanitarian work that he even at times ignored his successful private practice.

Following the start of hostilities during the US war against terror, he went to Afghanistan to treat the US bombing victims and worked alongside a California-based NGO. He had tried to rehabilitate a Kabul hospital hit by the US bombs.

His friends revealed that he had last pulled back from Kabul at the time of takeover of the Afghan capital by the coalition forces and Northern Alliance. He reportedly helped some Arabs, Yemeni and Sudanese families in crossing over to Pakistan through the Quetta border.

His friends said that some of the Al Qaeda and Taliban leadership remained under his treatment, which he did as a professional responsibility.