Author: Chandan Nandy
Publication: The Hindustan Times
Date: January 18, 2004
URL: http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_537656,0008.htm
According to intercepts available
with Indian intelligence agencies, the ISI has organised a meeting of top
terrorist organisations in Bangladesh. The meeting may be held in the next
few days.
Representatives of the Lashkar-e-Taiba,
Hizb-ul Mujahideen, Bangladesh's Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami, the ULFA, the
Peoples Liberation Army, the All Tripura Tiger Force and some outfits from
the Philippines are likely to attend the meeting. A few Al-Qaeda operatives
may also attend.
Intelligence sources said the intercepts,
picked up both in PoK and Bangladesh, suggest that the meeting will be
held in Mir Sarai, near Chittagong.
There are unconfirmed reports that
Pakistan-based United Jihad Council chief and Hizb-ul Mujahideen head Syed
Salahuddin will attend the meeting. "Perhaps his name is being dropped
to draw good attendance," an official said.
Intelligence sources believe that
the meeting has been convened to discuss the ways to ''activate'' the eastern
and northeastern borders of India.
According to their analyses, the
ISI gameplan is to rope in the Jamaat-e-Islami in Bangladesh for anti-India
activities. Meanwhile, Indian officials are upbeat with a recent US advisory
that warns its nationals in Bangladesh to be careful as they might be targeted
in terrorist attacks.
Officials here wonder whether the
advisory was based on intelligence received by American authorities of
the presence of terrorist elements in Bangladesh.
