Share this story!            

Hundreds gather in Toba Tek Singh for Farooqi’s funeral

TOBA TEK SINGH: Hundreds of people gathered at a village in central Pakistan on Wednesday for the funeral of Amjad Hussain Farooqi, a militant described as a key link between Al Qaeda and local militant groups.

Farooqi’s village is located in the Toba Tek Singh district in Punjab. News of his funeral attracted hundreds of people from nearby villages and towns. Farooqi, who was wanted for two assassination attempts on President Pervez Musharraf and many other attacks, including the 2002 kidnapping and slaying of US journalist Daniel Pearl, was shot dead by the security forces on September 26.

His brother, Javed Farooqi, said that police had informed him that Farooqi’s body would be released to the family for the funeral later in the day. “I have informed all our relatives and friends,” he said. “But I don’t know at what time his body will be handed to us.”

As family members prepared for the burial and ordered a grave to be dug, people began arriving from the nearby towns, and the numbers had swollen to more than a 1,000 by nightfall. They included both sympathisers and the curious.

“It was cruel to kill Amjad,” said Qari Sanaullah, one of Farooqi’s relatives, who said he last met Farooqi 18 months ago. “He was a loyal Pakistani and a committed Muslim.” Mr Sanaullah said Farooqi had told him in that meeting that he had been a personal security guard of Osama Bin Laden before the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, and had committed his life to Islam and jihad.

Farooqi was known to have been close to Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, the mastermind of the September 11 attacks, who was arrested in Pakistan last year. Mr Sanaullah said Farooqi, in his 30s, had recruited three to four hundred men from Toba Tek Singh to fight a jihad against the enemies of Islam and used to condemn Muslims leaders for siding with the United States. Security was tight with Pakistani police and intelligence agents monitoring those attending the funeral. Farooqi’s supporters held slogans “Long Live Jaish Mohammad”, referring to the banned Islamic party to which he belonged. reuters

Home | National

Share this story!