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Pakistan Asks 89 Arab Aid Workers to Leave
With additional reporting by
IslamOnline's Aamir Latif
ISLAMABAD, Oct 7 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The Pakistani government asked 89 aid workers from Arab and Muslim countries working in various relief organizations in the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) and Pakistani tribal area to leave Pakistan, Islamabad's
Ausaf newspaper reported Sunday.
Quoting unidentified sources, the report said the workers were suspected of having ties to Saudi-born Osama bin Laden and his al-Qa'eda organization, which is accused by the U.S. of masterminding the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington.
Dozens of non-governmental organizations from the Islamic world are working in Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan in order to provide aid to Afghan refugees and displaced people inside Afghanistan.
The report said the provincial government has advised the federal government to first investigate the charges against the aid workers, and that only after completing the investigations, should they be asked to leave.
It also said an official committee has been set up to investigate the credentials of the aid workers and is expected to produce a final report in two days.
The 89 aid workers originate from Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, Sudan, Jordan, Somalia and Indonesia.
Earlier Thursday, IslamOnline (IOL) correspondent Amir Latif said Pakistan had started investigations against Arab and African nationals working for different non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the country on suspicion of being associated with bin Laden.
"As a precautionary measure, the government has launched an investigation campaign against some 50 Arab and African nationals working in Pakistan for different NGOs who may react negatively following any U.S. attack on Afghanistan," Abdul Rasheed Khan, Assistant Federal Secretary for Interior Affairs told the reporter Thursday.
"Although, we do not have any cogent evidence that the Arab and African nationals residing in Pakistan have any links with Osama bin Laden or Al-Qa'eda.
"However, investigations will continue to avert any untoward incident before it happens," Rasheed added.
"The NGOs under investigation also include those working in Afghanistan," he maintained.
"They may create a law and order situation in Pakistan in case of any U.S. attack on Afghanistan," the Secretary said.
Law enforcement agencies also arrested six people in the southern port city of Karachi on suspicion of having links with bin Laden. However, police authorities will not release their names or other details.
"We do have some people in custody on suspicion of having links with Osama, but we cannot tell you the names and other details in this regard because it may hurt investigations," a senior police official told the IOL correspondent.
An official of the Pakistan's NWFP government also confirmed that investigations have been initiated against some 50 officials of seven Pakistan-based Arab and African NGOs working in Afghanistan on suspicion they are linked to bin Laden.
"We suspect that these people have been working as frontline organizations for Osama bin Laden and may create problems for us in case of any attack on Afghanistan," the official said adding, "We have requested the federal interior ministry to issue directives to deport them."
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