(Scotsman-UK) Gethin Chamberlain - Security sources in Pakistan are investigating if British suicide bomber Shehzad Tanweer attended a religious school run by the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) during a recent visit to the country. The group's founder has publicly stated that he believes suicide bombing to be the "best form of jihad [holy war]." LeT also operates under the name Jamaat ud-Daawa (the party of preaching), has close ties with al-Qaeda, and has access to munitions and safe houses. Abu Zubaydah, a senior al-Qaeda lieutenant, was seized in an LeT safe house in Faisalabad in March 2002. The group has also been linked with Hamas and Jemaah Islamiyyah, and Indian security forces believe it is playing a significant role in channelling militants into Iraq. Saudi wealth and charities contributed to an explosive growth of such religious schools, concerned less with scholarship than with making war on infidels. These new madrassas now teach Wahhabism, a rigid expression of Islam that promotes fundamentalist readings of the Koran.
2005-07-14 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive