O 201051Z MAR 09
FM AMCONSUL LAHORE
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3966
INFO AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD IMMEDIATE 
AMCONSUL KARACHI PRIORITY 
AMCONSUL PESHAWAR PRIORITY 
AMEMBASSY KABUL 
AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 
AMEMBASSY LONDON 
CIA WASHDC
JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
USCENTCOM INTEL CEN MACDILL AFB FL
AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI PRIORITY 
AMCONSUL LAHORE

S E C R E T LAHORE 000054 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  3/18/2034 
TAGS: PTER PGOV PK
SUBJECT: SIPAH-E-SAHABA STEPS UP ACTIVITIES IN FAISALABAD 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Bryan D. Hunt, Principal Officer, American 
Consulate Lahore, Department of State. 
REASON...
¶1. (S) Summary:  A well-placed Deobandi religious leader told  Principal Officer in a meeting on March 18 that extremist group  Sipah-e-Sahaba (SSP) was increasing its activities in the  central Punjab city of Faisalabad, the province's second  largest, in collaboration with elements of the Tehrik-e-Taliban  Pakistan (TTP) and a splinter group from the banned terrorist  group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM).  The cleric reported that SSP had  recently launched a pamphlet campaign across the city in which  it called for people to take steps to enforce Islamic law  including: (1) cease business and social activities at the five  daily calls to prayer, (2) remove all sources of ""vulgarity""  such as televisions, cd players, and radios from their homes,  (3) seek dispute resolution through local imams rather than the  courts, (4) take Friday rather than Sunday as the weekly  holiday, and (4) strictly enforce purdah for female family  members.  The pamphlet states that it comes from SSP with  support from the TTP and specifically praises ""the enforcement  of Sharia in Swat"" and recommends it as a model for Faisalabad. 
According the religious scholar, a number of girls' educational  institutions in Faisalabad have received letters stating that if  they fail to observe purdah, they could be attacked by suicide  bombers.  The cleric surmised that SSP activities would increase  in Faisalabad on the return of its leader Maulana Ludhianvi from  a Libyan-government sponsored trip to that country.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (S) Leading Faisalabad-based Deobandi scholar and IVLP  alumnus Maulana XXXXXXXXXXXX called on the Principal  Officer on March 18 to discuss his concerns regarding what he  termed as ""growing extremist activity"" in Punjab's  second-largest city Faisalabad.  XXXXXXXXXXXX claimed that in the last  month he has observed a dramatic increase in propaganda  activities from Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP).  He believed that  this increase coincided with a number of visits to Faisalabad  from activists both of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and a  splinter group from the southern Punjab-based Jaish-e-Muhammad  (JeM).  XXXXXXXXXXXX believed that the activists were involved in  recruiting for TTP militant operations in the FATA and NWFP  through madrassas in southern Punjab and hoped to replicate that  success in Faisalabad.  XXXXXXXXXXXX noted that SSP leaders had  long-standing ties with JeM, as both were Deobandi organizations  that had collaborated in the past in anti-Shia and anti-India  activities. 
 
¶3. (S) XXXXXXXXXXXX shared with Principal Officer an Urdu-language  sticker that he claimed he had confiscated from several of his  madrassa students in Faisalabad.  The sticker, which he stated  was also being printed and distributed as a pamphlet, praised  the implementation of Sharia law in Swat and exhorted Muslims to  pursue the same sort of Sharia law in Faisalabad.  It then  recounted five steps that every Faisalabad based Muslim should  take to begin the process of implementation in the district. 
The steps were: : (1) cease business and social activities at  the five daily calls to prayer, (2) remove all sources of  ""vulgarity"" such as televisions, cd players, and radios from  their homes, (3) seek dispute resolution through local imams  rather than the courts, (4) take Friday rather than Sunday as  the weekly holiday, and (4) strictly enforce purdah for female  family members. 
 
¶4. (S) Maulana XXXXXXXXXXXX told Principal Officer that he had  initially dismissed the pamphlet campaign, but became  increasingly concerned after learning of specific threats  received by several girls' schools (NFI) in Faisalabad.  He  claimed that these schools had received letters sent from SSP,  referencing the situation in Swat, and warning that if these  schools did not begin having their students observe complete  purdah, the schools could be the target of violence, including  suicide bombing.  Maulana XXXXXXXXXXXX did not produce a copy of the  threat letter.  Principal Officer inquired whether any violence  had yet occurred in Faisalabad in connection with the SSP  campaign.  Maulana XXXXXXXXXXXX responded that to his knowledge it had  not, but he believed that it could occur in short order if  police did not check SSP activities. 
 
¶5. (S) Maulana XXXXXXXXXXXX noted that in addition to its pamphlet  campaign, SSP had organized a number of traditional religious  conferences in Faisalabad during the Islamic month of Rabwa  (currently ongoing).  Traditionally such conferences are  organized in this month of the Prophet's birth to discuss the  model life that the Prophet lead and to exhort Muslims to follow  his example.  According to Maulana XXXXXXXXXXXX, this year during the  SSP conferences, the organizers have exhorted attendees to  follow the Prophet's example and press for the adoption of  complete shariah law in Faisalabad, using Swat as a model. 
These exhortations specifically call for action against  vulgarity and women not observing purdah.  In one case, Maulana  XXXXXXXXXXXX claimed that he learned that leaders of the recently  banned al-Rashid Trust were coming to address a March 8 SSP  conference.  He stated that he had informed the District Police  Officer, who cancelled the event. 
 
¶6. (S) Maulana XXXXXXXXXXXX shared that he had received reliable  information that SSP leader Maulana Ludhianvi was on a  fundraising trip to Tripoli sponsored by the Libyan government. 
XXXXXXXXXXXX claimed that Ludhianvi had made contact with Libyan  officials in the guise of working against Iran and Shia agents  in Pakistan.  (Note: SSP was originally founded as a violent  anti-Shia organization and has, in the past, received extensive  foreign funding from a variety of Sunni states, including Saudi  Arabia.  End Note).  According to XXXXXXXXXXXX, Ludhianvi was scheduled  to return to Pakistan in ""a few days"" and was bringing with him  a ""donation"" from the Libyan government valued at nearly 25  million Pakistani rupees (approximately $312,000) that XXXXXXXXXXXX was  certain would be used to increase further SSP activities. 
 
¶7. (S) Comment:  Maulana XXXXXXXXXXXX is a long-standing contact of  Consulate Lahore, who visited the United States in XXXXXXXXXXXX as part  of our International Visitor Leadership Program.  XXXXXXXXXXXX  repeatedly credits his trip to the United States and  particularly his discussions with Muslim leaders there for  changing his previously anti-Western views.  XXXXXXXXXXXX has numerous  ties within the broader Deobandi community and is  well-positioned to obtain information on activities of  Deobandi-linked terrorist/extremist groups such as SSP and JeM.  He has not/not previously shared such extensive information with  post about these groups' activities in Faisalabad.  Post  believes he has done so on this occasion largely out of concern  for his and other moderate Deobandi leaders' safety if these  groups expand activities in Faislabad.  The significant decline  in the Pakistani textile industry and accompanying large-scale  lay-offs in Faisalabad --the center of that industry in Punjab 
-- provides groups like SSP with a ready pool of unemployed  recruits, who are susceptible to these groups' rhetoric about an  Islamic utopia based on Sharia and prepared to engage in  violence to bring it about.  End Comment. 
 
  HUNT  "