Embroiling China in War on Terror

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Embroiling China in War on Terror
By Aamir Latif, IOL Correspondent

ISLAMABAD — The recent attacks on Chinese nationals in Pakistan, especially after the bloody Red Mosque commando operation, are aimed at driving a wedge between the two allies and embroiling China into a conflict with anti-US forces, intelligence officials and security analysts believe.

"We have received cogent reports that some foreign powers are behind the killings and attacks on Chinese engineers and citizens in Pakistan," a senior
intelligence official told IslamOnline.net on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

About a dozen Chinese nationals, mostly engineers, have been killed in various attacks during the last two years in southeastern Balochistan and North Western
Frontier province, where security forces are facing a strong resistance from Baloch militants and local Taliban respectively.

The spate of attacks began when three Chinese engineers working at Gawadar deep-sea port project in Balochistan were gunned down by unidentified militants two years back.

Last year, two other engineers helping to build a dam in South Waziristan were abducted by a top Taliban military Commander, Abdullah Mahsud, who was killed in an operation near the Afghan borders on July 23, 2007.

One of the Chinese was killed during the rescue attempt while the other was rescued unharmed.

The latest incident happened in Charsaddah district of NWFP in July, where three Chinese engineers working in a local factory were killed by militants soon after the Red Mosque operation.

Red Mosque students had abducted nine Chinese women in June on claims of running a prostitution den in Islamabad under the guise of a massage center.

An eventual full-fledged commando operation against the Mosque killed hundreds, including women and children.

Some media reports suggested the operation was launched on the demand of angry ally China, which promptly denied such reports.

:: Double Agents

Intelligence agencies believe double agents are being used to drag China into the battle.

"China has neither been an active partner in the war on terror nor had it any confrontation with Taliban," noted the intelligence official.

"Therefore, the question arises, why Taliban are attacking them?"

Intelligence agencies have always been "doubtful" about the role of Mahsud.

"He was operating as a double agent. Various double-agents like Mahsud have managed to trickle into the ranks of Taliban," said the intelligence official.

Mahsud was captured by American troops in December 2001, after the Taliban had suffered a set back in Mazar-e-Sharif.

He was sent to notorious Guantanamo for interrogation and was released in March 2004.

Mahsud later returned to a senior leadership role within the local Taliban operating in Pakistan’s northern tribal belt.

"We have had reports that Mahsud was working for the US," said the intelligence official.

He claimed that Mahsud was released from Guantanamo on a condition of working for the US intelligence.

"We also had reports that he had established links to the Indian intelligence agency RAW."

The official argued that Mahsud's double-agent reality was soon discovered, promoting another top commander of local Taliban, Baitullah Mahsud, to ditch him.

He was subsequently forced to run and hide before being eventually killed by government troops in July.

:: Multiple Goal

Experts say some parties are trying to drive a wedge between Islamabad and its close regional ally, China.

"China has been Pakistan’s closest friend in last 60 years. It has supported us in any hour of need," Lt General rtd Hameed Gul told IOL.

"All the political and religious parties consider China as a great friend of Pakistan."

Gul, who served as head of Pakistan’s powerful Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) from 1988 to 1989, sees American and Indian hands behind attacks on Chinese.

"Being an intelligence person, I know that CIA doesn’t come on forefront. It usually uses the intelligence agencies of other countries. In our case, it is using RAW," he charged.

"The US wants to achieve various long term and short term targets by engaging China into the so-called war on terror," insists the expert.

"First, it wants to pre-maturely engage China into a conflict to contain its growing military and economic growth, which has been haunting America for last two decades," Gul said.

"Second, if China jumps into the fray then it will be much more pressure on Pakistan to launch a full-fledged military operation in the tribal areas.

"Third, the US wants to separate China from its traditional ally i.e. the Muslim world."

Gul thinks that Pakistan’s nuclear program is a long-term target of the US.

"If China gets involved into the so-called war on terror, it will be easier for the US to prepare a strong case against our nuclear program, and take an action in
line with Iraq," he said, referring to the Israeli bombing of Iraq’s nuclear installation in 1982.

The former ISI chief said India too has always been cranky on Sino-Pakistani relations.

"It was China which helped Pakistan in its wars against India," he recalled.

"The RAW has set up various centers in Afghanistan with the tacit
support of Hamid Karzai-led Northern Alliance government, which is very much involved in Balochistan and NWFP."

Gul insisted that the mega project of Gawadar deep sea port Balochistan, in which China has invested around 500 million dollars, is another reason for which
India and the US want to drive a wedge between the decade-old allies.

"After completion of Gawadar port, China and Pakistan will have direct access to Gulf and oil-rich Central Asian states, which bothers the US and India," Gul
said.

He does not buy the theory that the recent killing of Chinese was a reaction to the Red Mosque operation.

"This is untrue because the Chinese have been being targeted for the last two years, while the Red Mosque tragedy has just occurred."

Gul said the attacks on Chinese nationals coincided with the beginning of work on Gawadar project.

:: American Scheme

Hamid Mir, a journalist who shot to fame after interviewing Osama bin Laden in 2001, says the US has always been keen to drive a wedge between Muslim fighters and China.

He revealed that the head of the banned Harkatul Mujahidn, Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman Khalil, was approached in 1998 by US authorities to "wage Jihad"
against China, which is accused of persecuting Uighur Muslims in its oil-rich Xinjiang province.

"He was approached through a retired judge of Pakistan, who tried to coax him into waging Jihad in Xinjiang province and emotionally blackmailed him by
telling him about Chinese brutalities against Muslims there," Mir told IOL.

"He (judge) offered him (Khalil) that if he wages Jihad in Xinjiang, he will be showered with rain of dollars by the US and other western countries."

However, according to Mir, the Harkatul Mujahidin chief, rebuffed the offer.

The group was blacklisted by the US State Department as a terrorist organization in 2003.

Mir also believes that American agents have penetrated Taliban.

"US troops have continuously been conceding heavy losses in Afghanistan. Now it wants to shift the brunt towards China by dragging into its war in
Afghanistan," he said.

"But I am sure, the Chinese leadership is wise enough to understand this."

A senior Foreign Office official said the Chinese government has been taken into confidence about the intelligence reports.

"We have communicated to the Chinese government that some foreign powers which are not happy with the growing economic relations between the two countries, especially after Gawadar port project, are trying to create misunderstandings," he told IOL wishing not to be named.
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