Islamabad: Al-Qaeda, blamed for the killing of ex-premier Benazir Bhutto, is now "a Pakistani phenomenon" as sectarian and 'jihadi' groups in the country have joined the terror network after the government crackdown on them since the launch of peace process with India, a media report said on Saturday.
"Clearly, al-Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan doesn't just comprise Arabs and Uzbeks and Tajiks. It also comprises Pakistanis; and among such Pakistanis it comprises Pathans and Punjabis and possibly Urdu speakers who constitute the Pakistani Taliban," 'Daily Times' said in an article.
"Certainly, it is known that a number of Pakistani sectarian and jihadi Sunni organisations have joined the al- Qaeda network after the government launched efforts to disband them since the 'peace process' started with India. So al-Qaeda is now as much a Pakistani phenomenon as it is an Arab or foreign element."
The government yesterday said al-Qaeda was responsible for a series of suicide bombings meant to destabilize Pakistan, including the attack in Rawalpindi on Bhutto on Thursday that killed her and nearly 30 others. It said it had intelligence intercepts of Pakistani Taliban leader, Baitullah Mehsud, congratulating another person for the attack.
"Why is it difficult to believe that the same Islamist network that tried to eliminate President (Pervez) Musharraf, (former premier) Shaukat Aziz, (ex-interior minister) Aftab Sherpao and Benazir Bhutto on October 18 may be responsible for her murder on December 27?" said the newspaper article.
