JAMMU AND KASHMIR ISLAMIC FRONT (C-NA7-00565)

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 ISLAMABAD 007636





DEPT FOR S/CT

DEPT ALSO FOR SA/RA



E.O. 12958: DECL: (1.6X1)

TAGS: KPRP, PINR, PTER, PK

SUBJ: JAMMU AND KASHMIR ISLAMIC FRONT (C-NA7-00565)



REFTELS: A) STATE 106548 B) NEW DELHI 6957 C) ISLAMABAD 5640



CLASSIFIED BY POLCOUNS TOM PRICE. REASON: 1.5 (C).



1. (S) IN RESPONSE TO REFTEL (A) REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ON THE

JAMMU AND KASHMIR ISLAMIC FRONT (JKIF),POLOFF, ACCOMPANIED BY POL

FSN, VISITED THE JKIF'S ISLAMABAD OFFICE ON SEPTEMBER 4. MAKING AN

APPOINTMENT TO MEET WITH THE JKIF WAS SOMETHING OF AN ORDEAL, BUT

POL FSN FINALLY MANAGED TO TRACK DOWN AN ISLAMABAD PHONE NUMBER

(445699) FOR THE GROUP. WHEN HE CALLED THE OFFICE, THE PERSON WHO

ANSWERED REPEATEDLY ASKED IF THE CALL WAS BEING TAPED. "IF SO, I

WILL SPEAK MORE CLEARLY," HE SAID, EVEN AFTER BEING ASSURED THAT

THE CONVERSATION WAS NOT BEING MONITORED.



2. (S) FINDING THE JKIF OFFICE WAS ALMOST AS DIFFICULT AS MAKING

AN APPOINTMENT. LOCATED IN THE CAPITAL CITY'S WESTERNMOST SUBURBS,

THE GROUP'S HOUSE IS TUCKED INTO A NARROW ALLEY IN THE I/10-2

SECTOR (STREET 10, GALI (ALLEY) 27, HOUSE 1908). POLOFFS WERE

USHERED INTO THE HOUSE BY DR. HAIDER, WHO IDENTIFIED HIMSELF AS

VICE CHAIRMAN OF THE JKIF. HE IN TURN INTRODUCED BILAL BAIG,

CHAIRMAN OF THE JKIF, AND SYED ALI RAZA, WHOM HAIDER DESCRIBED AS

THE PRESIDENT OF JKIF'S POLITICAL WING IN MUZAFFARABAD. HAIDER,

WHO HAILS FROM BARAMULLA DISTRICT OF INDIAN KASHMIR AND SAYS HE HAS

A MEDICAL DEGREE, DID MOST OF THE TALKING DURING THE NEXT HOUR-AND-

A-HALF, THOUGH RAZA DID SPEAK UP OCCASIONALLY, AND BAIG APPEARED TO

BE FOLLOWING THE CONVERSATION CLOSELY.



3. (S) HAIDER NEEDED LITTLE PROMPTING TO LAUNCH INTO A CONVOLUTED

EXPLANATION OF THE GROUP'S HISTORY AND ITS PHILOSOPHY, MOST OF

WHICH IS COVERED MORE COMPREHENSIBLY IN REFTELS B AND C. HAIDER

SAID THE GROUP BEGAN AS A PEACEFUL ORGANIZATION CALLED THE JAMMU

AND KASHMIR STUDENTS' LIBERATION FRONT IN 1988 AND GRADUALLY

METAMORPHOSED INTO THE JKIF OVER THE COURSE OF THE NEXT SEVERAL

YEARS. HAIDER SAID HIS OWN CONVERSION TO VIOLENCE TOOK PLACE IN

APRIL 1992, WHEN HE WAS DETAINED AND TORTURED BY INDIAN TROOPS IN

SRINAGAR. ROLLING UP HIS PANTS LEG TO REVEAL SEVERAL UGLY GOUGES

IN HIS SKIN, HAIDER SAID HE HAD BEEN SUBJECTED TO ELECTRIC SHOCKS

AND SEVERE BEATINGS WHILE IN CUSTODY. SINCE THEN, HAIDER SAID, HIS

ELDER BROTHER HAD BEEN KILLED AND HIS FAMILY HOME DESTROYED BY

INDIAN TROOPS, WHILE HE HAD BEEN FORCED TO FLEE TO PAKISTAN IN

1994. "HE TOO HAS SUFFERED," HAIDER SAID POINTING TO BAIG, WHO WAS

SITTING IMPASSIVELY ACROSS THE ROOM. BAIG'S SISTER-IN-LAW AND

FATHER WERE KILLED BY INDIAN TROOPS, HAIDER CHARGED, AND HIS

SISTER, FARADA BAHANJI, HAS BEEN IMPRISONED IN NEW DELHI'S TIHAR

JAIL FOR OVER A YEAR BECAUSE OF HER BROTHER'S ACTIVITIES. TO CAP

OFF THIS LITANY OF ABUSE, HAIDER PRODUCED SEVERAL PHOTOS OF

CORPSES, ALL OF WHOM ALLEGEDLY DIED AT THE HANDS OF INDIAN SECURITY

FORCES. ONE PHOTO PURPORTEDLY SHOWED THE REMAINS OF BAIG'S FAMILY

HOME WITH A SNAPSHOT OF HIS SISTER SUPERIMPOSED ON IT.



4. (S) WHEN PRESSED TO ELABORATE ON THE GROUP'S POLITICAL

PHILOSOPHY, HAIDER DEFERRED TO RAZA, A YOUNG, THIN MAN WITH A FULL

BEARD AND TURBAN. RAZA SAID THE JKIF HAD ONLY RECENTLY BEGUN TO

FORMULATE A POLITICAL AGENDA AND THE FOCUS WAS STILL ON ARMED

RESISTANCE TO INDIAN OCCUPATION OF KASHMIR. THE PRIMARY AIM OF THE

JKIF IS KASHMIRI INDEPENDENCE, HE COMMENTED, BUT AFTER INDIAN

TROOPS VACATE KASHMIR, THE GROUP WOULD THEN BE AMENABLE TO

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UN RESOLUTIONS, EVEN IF THAT MEANT A VOTE TO

JOIN INDIA. THE JKIF IS PRIMARILY A NATIONALIST MOVEMENT, RAZA

CONTINUED, AND DOES NOT ESPOUSE A PARTICULARLY RADICAL BRAND OF

ISLAM, DESPITE ITS NAME. AT THIS POINT, HAIDER JUMPED IN AND ENDED

THIS SEGMENT OF THE CONVERSATION BY EMBARKING ON A LONG, RAMBLING

DISCOURSE ABOUT THE COMMON ROOTS OF JEWS, CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS,

WHILE TAKING PAINS TO MENTION THAT THE JKIF WAS NOT AGAINST

"ORDINARY HINDUS."



5. (S) TURNING TO THE GROUP'S MILITARY OPERATIONS, HAIDER SAID

THE JKIF'S PRIMARY TARGETS ARE INDIAN REGULAR AND PARAMILITARY

FORCES IN KASHMIR, THOUGH HE ADDED THAT "THOSE WHO COMPROMISE" WITH

THE INDIANS WERE ALSO KILLED. ASKED WHOM THE JKIF CONSIDERED

"COMPROMISERS," HAIDER LISTED BUREAUCRATS AND POLITICIANS IN THE

JAMMU AND KASHMIR GOVERNMENT AS THE MAIN CULPRITS, BUT STATED THAT

ANYONE WHO "BECOMES A HINDRANCE" WAS ALSO A POTENTIAL TARGET,

INCLUDING MUSLIM COLLABORATORS. HAIDER BECAME QUITE AGITATED WHEN

DISCUSSING THOSE WHOM THE JKIF CONSIDERED ENEMIES, REPEATEDLY

BARING HIS CHEST WHILE STATING THAT HE WAS NOT AFRAID TO DIE FOR

KASHMIRI INDEPENDENCE. "I WOULD KILL THE INDIAN PRIME MINISTER IF

I COULD," HE ASSERTED. A FAVORITE METHOD OF ATTACKING INDIAN

TROOPS IS SUICIDE BOMBINGS, HAIDER ASSERTED, "JUST LIKE HAMAS IN

ISRAEL." RDX IS THE EXPLOSIVE OF CHOICE, HE EXPLAINED, AND ATTACKS

ARE CAREFULLY PLANNED AFTER TARGETS ARE CASED FOR SEVERAL DAYS.

HAIDER WAS EVASIVE WHEN ASKED ABOUT BOMBINGS OF NON-MILITARY

TARGETS, BUT HE VEHEMENTLY DENIED THAT THE JKIF WAS A TERRORIST

GROUP.



6. (S) HAIDER ESTIMATED THE JKIF'S STRENGTH AT BETWEEN 500 AND

1,000 MILITANTS, DOWN CONSIDERABLY FROM THEIR PEAK IN 1992, WHEN

THE GROUP BOASTED 4,000 FIGHTERS. THE INDIANS HAVE KILLED MORE

THAN 2,000 JKIF FIGHTERS SINCE THEN, HAIDER ADMITTED, BUT HE SAID

THE GROUP STILL FIELDED THE SECOND-LARGEST MILITANT FORCE IN

KASHMIR AFTER THE HIZBUL MUJAHEDDIN (NOTE: ALMOST EVERY KASHMIRI

MILITANT GROUP CLAIMS TO HAVE THE SECOND-LARGEST NUMBER OF FIGHTERS

IN INDIAN KASHMIR, BUT ALL AGREE THAT THE HIZBUL MUJAHEDDIN IS

NUMBER ONE). ROUGHLY 200 FIGHTERS ARE IN AZAD KASHMIR AT ANY GIVEN

TIME, WHILE THE REST ARE OPERATING INSIDE INDIAN KASHMIR. TRAINING

TAKES PLACE IN CAMPS IN AZAD KASHMIR, HAIDER EXPLAINED, BUT HE

DENIED THAT THE GROUP RECEIVED ANY ASSISTANCE FROM THE PAKISTANI

ARMY. ALL OF THE JKIF'S FIGHTERS ARE KASHMIRIS, EITHER FROM AZAD

OR INDIAN KASHMIR, HAIDER CLAIMED, THOUGH HE CONCEDED THAT "ONE OR

TWO" AFGHANS COULD BE IN THE GROUP WITHOUT HIS KNOWLEDGE. RECRUITS

RANGE IN AGE FROM TEENAGERS TO MEN IN THEIR 40'S AND 50'S, AND ALL

RECEIVE ONE TO TWO MONTHS TRAINING BEFORE BEING SENT ACROSS THE

LINE-OF-CONTROL (LOC) INTO INDIAN KASHMIR. CROSSING THE LOC IS

EXTREMELY DANGEROUS, HAIDER SAID, THEREFORE THE SIZE OF

INFILTRATING GROUPS IS KEPT SMALL -- NO MORE THAN 20 MEN -- SO THAT

CASUALTIES ARE LIMITED IF THE GROUP IS CAUGHT IN AN INDIAN AMBUSH.

HAIDER DENIED THAT PAKISTANI TROOPS PROVIDE COVERING FIRE FOR JKIF

MILITANTS.



7. (S) COMMENT: HAIDER SAID HE WOULD PROVIDE FURTHER INFORMATION

ABOUT THE GROUP AT OUR NEXT MEETING, WHILE BOTH HE AND BAIG, WHO

HAD REMAINED SILENT THROUGHOUT, EXPRESSED CONCERN THAT THE U.S.

VIEWED JKIF AS A TERRORIST OUTFIT (SOMETHING WHICH WE DID NOT BRING

UP FOR FEAR OF PROVOKING AN ABRUPT END TO OUR VISIT). USHERING US

TO THE DOOR, HAIDER WHISPERED THAT HE WOULD ALSO SHARE WITH US

"CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION" ABOUT THE APHC'S ACTIVITIES THE NEXT

TIME WE MET. OBVIOUSLY MUCH OF WHAT SAID BY THESE MEN WAS TAILORED

TO FIT THE AUDIENCE, BUT WE OFFER IT FOR WHAT IT IS WORTH, AND WE

WILL ATTEMPT GLEAN MORE ABOUT THE GROUP AND THEIR ACTIVITIES IN

FUTURE MEETINGS.





SIMONS