September 1, 2003	Monday	Rajab 3, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, Aug 31: Over 20 armymen, including six to seven officers up to the rank of lieutenant colonel, are facing investigation in two different cases for their alleged links with Al Qaeda and an enemy country.

Well-placed army sources disclosed that two groups of armymen were taken into custody at different times and for different reasons.

One of the groups is under investigation for links with Al Qaeda, while the other, which is larger in size, was taken into custody for its connection with a neighbouring enemy country.

The group facing investigation for Al Qaeda connections was arrested some months ago in Rawalpindi after a lead was provided by Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, who was arrested from the residence of a Jamaat-i-Islami activist. The arrest of another Jamaat-i-Islami man from Mirpur, Ahsan Aziz, is also linked with the Al Qaeda group.

The sources said the family of Ahsan Aziz filed a habeas corpus petition in the Lahore High Court, Rawalpindi Bench, but no government department admitted that he was in its custody.

The family told the court that they had met Ahsan Aziz while he was in custody of an agency. The sources close to the family said that Ahsan Aziz was not being released as he was refusing to turn “approver” against certain officials.

ISPR Director-General Maj-Gen Shaukat Sultan confirmed that three to four officers were in custody for their links with extremist organizations, but said he was not in a position to comment about the second group of officers.

He denied that the armymen were arrested from Afghanistan by the US FBI.

The second group was arrested from Sindh by the Field Intelligence Unit for their contacts with an enemy country. The government is keeping the arrests secret as it is trying to bust the entire net. In the second group, the officers are not above the major rank.