Pakistan said to have freed bin Laden bodyguard
Pakistan recently freed a senior al-Qaida commander who was also an Osama bin Laden bodyguard, raising concerns about the country's commitment to tackling terrorism, media reports say.
Dr. Amin al Haq was freed several weeks ago because Pakistani officials could not prove his ties to al-Qaida and because he is not in good health, according to an Afghan Islamic Press report cited by other news organizations.
Haq reportedly was detained in Lahore by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency in December 2008, seven years after escaping with bin Laden, the Daily Telegraph of London reported. Haq served as the security coordinator of Osama bin Laden's Black Guard.
ISI passed Haq, 51, to police Peshawar in northwest Pakistan before his release, a security source told the Telegraph.
"Amin al-Haq had been arrested mistakenly, therefore, the police failed to prove any charge of his association with Osama bin Laden and the court set him free," he told The Daily Telegraph.
Haq, a doctor, was a member of the Hizb-i Islami Khalis (HIK), a key mujahadeen group that helped defeat the Soviets during the 1980s, according to Mother Jones magazine. HIK also helped bring bin Laden to Afghanistan after he was ejected from Sudan in 1996. And Haq himself reportedly accompanied bin Laden in his escape from Tora Bora in 2001.
Dr. Amin al Haq was freed several weeks ago because Pakistani officials could not prove his ties to al-Qaida and because he is not in good health, according to an Afghan Islamic Press report cited by other news organizations.
Haq reportedly was detained in Lahore by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency in December 2008, seven years after escaping with bin Laden, the Daily Telegraph of London reported. Haq served as the security coordinator of Osama bin Laden's Black Guard.
ISI passed Haq, 51, to police Peshawar in northwest Pakistan before his release, a security source told the Telegraph.
"Amin al-Haq had been arrested mistakenly, therefore, the police failed to prove any charge of his association with Osama bin Laden and the court set him free," he told The Daily Telegraph.
Haq, a doctor, was a member of the Hizb-i Islami Khalis (HIK), a key mujahadeen group that helped defeat the Soviets during the 1980s, according to Mother Jones magazine. HIK also helped bring bin Laden to Afghanistan after he was ejected from Sudan in 1996. And Haq himself reportedly accompanied bin Laden in his escape from Tora Bora in 2001.
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