Mehdi Ghezali - 2009 Arrest and Release in Pakistan

2009 Arrest and Release in Pakistan

On 10 September 2009, the Swedish television programme Rapport reported that Ghezali was among a group of twelve foreign citizens who had been arrested one week earlier in the Dera Ghazi Khan District in Punjab, Pakistan, on suspicions of having ties to al-Qaeda. Pakistani security officials reported the 12 men were captured on 28 August 2009.

Among the twelve arrested men, three (including Ghezali) were Swedish, seven were Turkish, one was Russian and another one was an Iranian citizen. According to the Pakistani police chief Mohammad Rizwan, the individuals were arrested when they were trying to sneak into the Punjab province through a checkpoint. According to Rizwan, the police had found CDs, exchange money and literature which all indicated links to terrorist activity. Following their arrest, Ghezali and the two other Swedish citizens were moved to Islamabad. Rizwan described Ghezali as "a very dangerous man".

Ghezali's attorney, Anton Strand response to the news that Ghezali was reported to have been captured was: “Yes, I’m surprised by it. One should remember that Ghezali has traveled in that region previously and he has an interest in the region. He is religious and has friends and contacts.”

Swedish newspaper, The Local quoted Gösta Hultén, the author of a book on Ghezali, who said that Ghezali's father believed he was on a religious pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. He reported that Ghezali had called from Saudi Arabia "a few days ago" -- which would be about a week after Pakistani authorities reported the ten men were captured. According to Hultén: “The father is very upset about the allegations that Mehdi has ties to Al-Qaeda. He has already been cleared from those suspicions once.”

On 13 September 2009 Swedish officials confirmed that Pakistan had apprehended three Swedish citizens. But they declined to comment further on their identity.

On 16 September 2009 two of Ghezali's traveling companions were identified. He was reported to have been captured with "28-year-old Munir Awad and 19-year-old Safia Benaouda, and their two and a half-year-old boy." The most recent allegations state the four Swedes were traveling to Miranshah in Waziristan, to meet Zahir Noor, alleged to be a Taliban leader.

Ghezali is reported to have explained that the group were traveling to Lahore to participate in what Swedish newspaper The Local described as "a harmless meeting with a Muslim revivalist movement, Tablighi Jamaat."

The Swedes were released on 10 October 2009. They were placed on a plane to Sweden at 800 GMT. Rehman Malik Pakistan’s Minister of the Interior had told Swedish diplomats on 6 October 2009 that he would be receiving a formal report on the Swedes on 7 October 2009, and that he would make a decision about their continued detention at that point. Swedish paper The Local reported one additional anonymous allegation, that the group "were found in a prohibited area near a nuclear power facility." Ulrika Sundberg, the Swedish Ambassador, accompanied the Swedes to their flight. As of the time of their release Swedish officials had still not received a formal report from Pakistan explaining why the four were detained. During a 23 November 2009 press conference Ghezali's lawyers offered more details of the trip. The asserted that Ghezali and his companions had made a last-minute decision, during a tour of middle eastern countries, to alter their plans to include Pakistan in their itinerary. They were told by their tour coordinator that the visas for travel within Pakistan could be arranged upon their arrival. His lawyers expressed concern that Swedish intelligence officials continued to keep Ghezali under surveillance. They expressed concern that the press speculation that his travel to Pakistan had been inspired by support for jihadism was unfair and unsupported by any evidence.