LAHORE, Jan 15: The interior ministry claimed on Wednesday that Dr Ahmad Javed Khwaja and the four detained members of his family had admitted to having links with the head of Al Qaeda’s North African network and three of its most wanted “hardcore terrorists”.

The ministry made this claim in a report submitted to the Lahore High Court to justify the detention of Dr Ahmad Javed Khwaja, Ahmad Naveed Khwaja, Dr Umar Karar, Dr Khizar Ali and Mohammad Usman under the Security of Pakistan Act 1952. The Punjab government had already filed its report in this regard.

As disclosed by the ministry, investigations had revealed that Abu Faraj, the head of Al Qaeda’s North African network and another three of its active members, Abu Yasir, Asadullah, Sheikh Said Al Misri, were in touch with the five detainees. “It came up during investigations that Al Qaeda’s most wanted terrorists were being harboured and facilitated at Manawan Compound owned by Dr Ahmad Javed Khwaja and his family,” the report says.

Abu Yasir was said to be an Algerian/Moroccan national who looked after the general working of Al Qaeda; Asadullah an Egyptian who had membership of both Al Jamaat Al Islamia and Al Qaeda and Sheikh Said Al Misri, an Egyptian who was Al Qaeda’s financial chief.

The allegations of facilitating and harbouring Al Qaeda were supported by the alleged recovery of passports of three Sudanese, three Egyptians and one Afghan national from the residence of five detainees. However, the ministry did not mention as to whether the recovered passports belonged to the Al Qaeda members mentioned in the report.

The ministry further claimed that the recovery of the US, UAE, Saudi, Afghani, and Iranian currency from Khwajas’ residence confirmed the alleged harbouring of Al Qaeda members at Manawan.

Justice Javed Buttar, hearing the petition against the detention, was requested by the state to dismiss the petition on grounds that substantial material had been collected against the detainees.

The court allowed petitioners’ counsel, Hamid Khan, a week to file a reply to the report of provincial and federal governments. It was told that the detainees had not yet received any response from the interior ministry on their presentation.

Deputy Attorney General Sher Zaman Khan was directed to seek instructions from the interior ministry about the presentation, as its section officer had shown ignorance about its filing. The DAG would also update the court on federal government’s stance on Dr Umar Karar’s application for haj on Jan 24.

Punjab Advocate General Maqbool Elahi Malik was instructed to file comments on a question as to which rule prohibited an exclusive meeting of the visitors with the detainees.

He was further instructed to visit the Chung sub-jail, where the detainees were being kept, and review the possibility of their shifting to the Lahore Central Jail.

The instructions to the AG were issued following the submission of petitioners’ counsel that detainees were not allowed exclusive meetings with their family members.