Cables detail Saudi diplomat’s meeting with Haqqani’s son

Published June 28, 2015
Saudi officials and the Haqqani network are said to have had a long-standing relationship. ─ Reuters/File
Saudi officials and the Haqqani network are said to have had a long-standing relationship. ─ Reuters/File

ISLAMABAD: Leaked Saudi diplomatic cables reveal that the country’s embassy in Islamabad remained in touch with the Haqqani network and also helped arrange a visit for the militant group’s leader for medical treatment.

The cables, published by WikiLeaks, have provided a rare insight into the contacts between Saudi officials and the Haqqani network in the recent past, even though the two are said to have had a long-standing relationship, going back to the days of CIA-funded jihad in Afghanistan.

The Saudi foreign ministry had — in a statement released after WikiLeaks started publishing the cables — expressed concern over their public release, but said the information contained in the leaked documents did not contradict Saudi Arabia’s known position on foreign policy matters.

The Saudi government has, meanwhile, not acknowledged these cables as authentic and asked its citizens to ignore them.


Leaks suggest Jalaluddin Haqqani carried a Saudi passport


One of the cables, signed by former Saudi Ambassador to Pakistan Abdul Aziz Ibrahim Saleh Al Ghadeer, which is marked ‘confidential’, narrates his meeting with Nasiruddin Haqqani, one of the sons of Haqqani network chief Jalaluddin Haqqani. The meeting between the ambassador and Nasiruddin, who was the emissary and chief financier of the Taliban-linked militant group at the time, took place on Feb 15, 2012.

The venue of the meeting has not been mentioned, but the ambassador usually held meetings either at the embassy or his residence, both of which are located in the heavily guarded Diplomatic Enclave and remains under the watchful eyes of Pakistani intelligence agencies.

During the meeting, Nasiruddin conveyed his father’s request for treatment at a Saudi hospital, in view of his medical condition, to King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz.

Another cable, dated February 25, 2012, says that the nature of ailment had been explained to Ambassador Ghadeer. The communication, however, did not precisely mention the disease from which he was suffering.

Media accounts claimed that Jalaluddin, who would have been 62 years old in 2012, was suffering from Parkinson’s disease, while another news report said he was a patient of Lupus.

Ambassador Ghadeer’s cable noted that Jalaluddin was based in Waziristan at the time and that doctors had recommended his hospitalisation.

The meeting between Nasiruddin and the Saudi envoy took place a fortnight after Afghan President Hamid Karzai met then-President Asif Zardari and then-Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani to ask for their help in arranging a meeting with Taliban leader Mullah Omar. Gen Kayani, according to one of the Saudi cables, had suggested that Karzai meet the Haqqani leadership. Karzai had told Gen Kayani that he did not have any qualms meeting with the Haqqani leaders, but feared that they would not be willing to see him.

Jalaluddin had set up a base in North Waziristan following the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001, under which he was the minister for border affairs. He used his North Waziristan base to direct the Haqqani Network’s operations. The group is accused of being behind some of the deadliest attacks in Afghanistan.

Due to his ailment, the militant ‘commander’ had handed over operational command of the Haqqani network to his son, Sirajuddin.

Jalaluddin has been on the UN Sanctions list since January 31, 2001. The provisions of the UNSC resolutions 1267 (1999), and 1333 (2000) apply to him, which, among other things, bar the international travel of listed individuals and prevent any assistance to them.

The Saudi cables show that Jalaluddin carried a Saudi passport since the days of the Afghan jihad.

His son Nasiruddin had handed over that passport to Ambassador Ghadeer during their meeting. Though the cable did not state why the passport was given to the ambassador, it is possible that it was sent for renewal.

There are, however, no cables among those released so far detailing when Jalaluddin travelled to Saudi Arabia or if he ever undertook the journey.

Pakistan has often been criticised for its links with the Haqqani network. The latest US State Department report titled ‘Country Reports on Terrorism 2014’ also notes that Haqqani network leadership “continued to find safe haven in Pakistan”, but there has been little talk of their other patrons, including Saudi Arabia.

Published in Dawn, June 28th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play

Opinion

The perfect man
19 Aug 2021

The perfect man

Imam Husain exemplified perfection in every sense of the word.
Return of the Taliban
Updated 18 Aug 2021

Return of the Taliban

The new dispensation in Afghanistan will be required to alleviate the concerns over human rights issues.
Aid and debt
Updated 18 Aug 2021

Aid and debt

The fact that aid is for the giver and not the taker is proven in the methods that have been used for its disbursal.

Editorial

19 Aug 2021

Militancy concerns

HAVING made their way to Kabul like a hot knife through butter, the Afghan Taliban are saying all the right things ...
Horrific assault
Updated 19 Aug 2021

Horrific assault

There is a tremendous amount of work to be done to correct the public narrative around women’s rights.
19 Aug 2021

Decreasing FDI flows

THE consistent decline in FDI flows into Pakistan in recent years should worry our economic managers. The net flows...
Price of US follies
Updated 18 Aug 2021

Price of US follies

The birth of terror organisations like the Islamic State and Al Qaeda are by-products of America’s ideologically fuelled policies.
18 Aug 2021

Grotesque stunt

EVEN by the standards of the megalomaniacal Narendra Modi, it was an astonishingly ill-timed publicity stunt. A few...
18 Aug 2021

Facilitating SMEs

THE new three-year State Bank refinance scheme — SME Asaan Finance — for providing collateral-free bank loans to...