Khalid Khawaja

Squadron Leader Khalid Khawaja (Urdu: خالد خواجہ; 1951–2010) was an officer of the Pakistan Air Force, and the Air Force's intelligence officer of the Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence agency.[2][3] A former member of Special Service Wing (SSW) and a veteran of Soviet–Afghan War, Khawaja described himself as a close associate of Osama bin Laden in the early days of the Afghan resistance against the Soviet Union.[4] He was once suspected of being involved in the murder of American reporter Daniel Pearl. This was later proved to be false, but he did connect Pearl with men who would eventually kill him.

Khalid Khawaja
Nickname(s)Colonel Khawaja
Born1951[1]
Jaranwala, Punjab province
DiedApril 30, 2010 (aged 58-59)
Karam Kot, North Waziristan, Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA)
Buried
Islamabad
Allegiance Pakistan
Service/branch Pakistan Air Force
Inter Services Intelligence (ISI)
Years of service1971–1986
Rank Squadron Leader
UnitNo. 16 Squadron Panthers
Special Service Wing (SSW)
Battles/warsIndo-Pakistan War of 1971
Soviet–Afghan War

Military career

Khawaja gained commission in Pakistan Air Force in January 1971. He completed his aviation training to become an aviator of Alouette III, and was selected to be sent to PAF Special Warfare School. After his graduation in JUNE 1973, Khawaja as flying officer, was selected as a flight specialist. Squadron Leader Khawaja actively participated in Soviet–Afghan War along with elite Black Storks, also known as Special Service Group. In 1985, Squadron Leader Khawaja pursued his career to become an intelligence officer. After passing the selection exam, Khawaja joined ISI where he actively participated in Soviet–Afghan War. In 1987, former President and Chief of Army Staff General Zia-ul-Haq dismissed him from his position for his "outspoken views", a subsequent forced-retirement given by the Pakistan's Judge Advocate General Branch in 1987.[5]

Asia Times comments

We don't believe in killing innocent people, but we would certainly like to send you into the Stone Age the same way you have sent us into the Stone Age...a slave normally hates his master

— Khalid Khawaja, 2005[6]

A November 9, 2005, article in the Asia Times described Khawaja as the "point man" for Mansoor Ijaz, which it describes as "...a US citizen of Pakistani origin with close ties to the right wing of the Republican Party".[7] The Asia Times says that Ijaz is negotiating a peace with the remaining elements of the Taliban, with Khawaja's assistance. The Associated Press names Khawaja a spokesman for a Pakistani human rights group named Defense of Human Rights.[8]

Activism

Khawaja was a close friend of Abdul Rashid Ghazi. and briefly served the role of Ghazi's press attache.[9]

Khawaja and Ghazi later on founded Defence of Human Rights Pakistan in 2005 alongside Amina Masood Janjua.[10]

Friend of Khadr family

A noted friend of the Egyptian-Canadian Khadr family, Khawaja spoke in their defence saying they were being unfairly targeted by Canadian authorities because of deference to the United States, and Islamophobia.[11] He has also said that Canada is "selfish and self-centred" and deserves to be bombed by terrorists.[12]

Deborah Scroggins, author of the book Wanted Women: Faith, Lies & The War on Terror: The lives of Ayaan Hirsi Ali & Aaafia Siddiqui, describes meeting Zaynab while she was a house-guest of Khawaja, in Islamabad, Pakistan, in 2004.[13]

Arrest

Khawaja was arrested in Aabpara on January 26, 2007, on charges of distributing hate material (Section 295A of the Pakistan Penal Code), which he denied.[14]

Death

He was found dead in Mir Ali on April 30, 2010 – a month after being kidnapped by a group calling themselves the "Asian Tigers", while filming a documentary about Colonel Imam. Imam, British journalist Asad Qureshi and Qureshi's driver Rustam Khan were also kidnapped with Khawaja. Qureshi and Khan were released in September 2010. Imam was killed in January 2011.[15]

References
Wikinews has related news:
  1. Geo Television Network Archived 2010-05-05 at the Wayback Machine
  2. "Jang Group Online". Archived from the original on 2010-05-05. Retrieved 2010-05-02.
  3. Taken for a ride in the 'war on terror', Asia Times, December 9, 2005.
  4. Bush breeds a million bin Ladens Archived 2011-06-07 at the Wayback Machine, Al-Jazeerah Information Center, March 14, 2003.
  5. The pawns who pay as powers play, Asia Times, June 22, 2005.
  6. Bell, Stewart. "The Martyr's Oath", 2005.
  7. Time to talk: US engages the Taliban, Asia Times, November 22, 2005.
  8. 2 Pakistanis in Guantanamo Bay should be released, rights group says, International Herald Tribune, November 23, 2006.
  9. Schmidle, Nicholas (2010-05-04). "In a Ditch". The New Republic. ISSN 0028-6583. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  10. Lal Masjid : A Brief History.
  11. Bell, Stewart. National Post, "Khadrs Reveal Bin Laden Ties", January 24, 2004.
  12. Bell, Stewart. National Post, "Al-Qaeda says Canada deserves bombing", May 15, 2004.
  13. Deborah Scroggins (2012). Wanted Women -- Faith, lies & the war on terror: The lives of Ayaan Hirsi Ali & Aaafia Siddiqui. HarperCollins. pp. 303, 304, 305–306, 428. ISBN 9780062097958. Retrieved 2013-06-16. She had then grown up with the children of the world's most militant jihadis and had later spent her youth in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, a period she described as "the best five years of my life."
  14. Khawaja denied bail, Daily Times (of Pakistan), February 4, 2007.
  15. Former ISI official’s body found in FATA – The Express Tribune
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