Founder of the banned Harkat-ul Mujahideen (HuM) Maulana Fazlur Rehman Khalil has joined Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in the run-up to the elections in Pakistan. Khalil who had stepped down from HuM in 2000 had formed his own organisation Ansar-ul-Umma. Besides being wanted by the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) for his alleged involvement in terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir, Khalil is also being sought by the American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for his alleged links with al-Qaeda.
The news was publicised on the official Facebook page of the PTI, stating that the current leader of Ansar-ul-Umma and numerous of his allies and clerics have pledged their support for his party.
"Maulana Fazlur Rehman Khalil, along with his several companions and scholars, has announced his support for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf," reads the statement. The social media post also conveyed Khalil's intentions to "stay committed in ensuring that Pakistan takes the necessary steps required to turn the country into an Islamic democratic state."
Khalil was a signatory of Osama bin Laden's 1998 fatwa called the International Front Against Jews and Crusaders. On September 2014, the US State Department tagged him as "specially designated global terrorist".
In its charge-sheet, Maulana Khalil, the US Department of Treasury described Harkatul Mujahideen as a "Pakistan-based violent terrorist organisation that trains militants and supports activities of many of the best known and brutal extremist groups, including al-Qaeda". Khalil's designation takes place less than two months after the State Department updated Harkatul Mujahideen's foreign terrorist organisation designation to include Ansarul Ummah (AuM), while describing it as a front organisation of the banned HuM. In its update, the American State Department noted: "The HuM has changed its name in an effort to avoid sanctions.
GLOBAL TERRORIST
Maulana Fazlur Rehman Khalil was a signatory of Osama bin Laden’s 1998 fatwa called the International Front Against Jews and Crusaders. On September 2014, the US State Department tagged him as “specially designated global terrorist”.
