Qari Saifullah Akhtar

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Qari Saifullah Akhtar is a member of Al-Qaeda currently in Pakistani custody. Previously, Akhtar was the leader of Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI), a jihadi organization. When HUJI merged with Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HUM) around 1990 to form Harkat-ul-Ansar (HUA), Akhtar acted as deputy to former HUM leader and then amir Maulana Fazalur Rehman Khalil. HUA dissolved back into two separate groups in 1997, allowing Akhtar to become amir of HUJI. Since 1998 when Osama bin Laden released a fatwa under the banner World Islamic Front for Jihad Against the Jews and Crusaders, segments of HUJI have joined al-Qaeda. Reportedly Akhtar was running a training camp at Rishkhor, Afghanistan before the US invaded Afghanistan in 2001, and had trained 3500 persons in conventional and unconventional combat. He disappeared from Afghanistan but was apprehended in August 2004 in the United Arab Emirates. He has since been handed over to Pakistan.

[edit] References

• Raman, B. "Why Amjad Farooqi had to die", Asia Times, Sept. 20, 2004. Accessed June 15, 2006.
• "Al Qaeda Suspected Nabbed", CBS News, Aug. 8, 2004. Accessed June 15, 2006.