PESHAWAR, Aug 17: Khadija, the 13-year-old widow of Al Qaeda suspect Abu Hais alias Abdur Rehman, on Sunday decided to sue the government for killing her husband, whom she claimed was innocent, during an encounter on Thursday evening.

A written message that was sent to Dawn, bearing the signature of teen-aged Khadija, blamed the Inter-Services Intelligence, Assistant Director of CID Salahuddin Mehsud and chief of the Capital City Police for being directly involved in the killing of her husband, who, she claimed, had been living in Peshawar and had a valid Libyan passport and a stay visa.

“Abdur Rahman was a pious person. He had no link with any terrorist network,” Khadija told Dawn at the Hayatabad township residence of her uncle, Abdul Hai.

The 13-year-old girl, who had bandaged right hand, blamed the police for killing her ‘innocent’ husband, alleging that after the shootout, they had taken away Rs108,000, “a good amount of US dollars, gold ornaments and luggage” from her house.

She claimed that her deceased husband did not tell her about his affiliation with Al Qaeda. “He was a nice man and a good Muslim — this is what I know,” she said.

She said that the police cordoned off her residence, asking her husband, Abu Hais alias Abdur Rahman, and Sheikh Abu Suleman alias Ayub, to surrender, adding that when they had refused to surrender, they started firing indiscriminately besides firing tear-gas shells.

“I stayed on the second floor (of the house) and received a single bullet (injury) on my right hand during the (ensuing) firing, while my husband resisted the police action on the first floor. Finally, he (her husband) was killed after a live hand grenade had exploded in his hands,” she informed.

“After capturing me, the police used me as shield to search the house,” she said.