Militant leader, ex-bin Laden ally roams freely in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD -- He is crisscrossing Pakistan championing a fatwa, or Islamic religious decree, forbidding militant violence inside the country. But the mere fact Fazlur Rehman Khalil, veteran leader of an organization designated as a terror group by the U.S., is free has experts questioning Pakistan's willingness to fight extremism.

Khalil, once a close friend of the late al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden, co-founded Harakat-ul-Mujahedeen, a group accused by India of attacking its forces in the Kashmir region and by the U.S. of training militants and carrying out attacks in Afghanistan. The group has undergone several name changes over time and is now known as Ansar-ul Ummah.

But authorities have left him alone. At his home on the outskirts of the capital, Islamabad, the gates are protected by a burly, bushy bearded guard whose automatic rifle is always at his side. Khalil's madrassa, or religious school, named for Khalid bin Al-Waleed, one of the most prominent early Muslim commanders leading the conquest of Iraq and Syria in the seventh century, occupies a sprawling compound next door in the middle of a crowded market.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Khalil denied the accusations against his group and applauded the fatwa, which he joined other Sunni and Shiite religious scholars in writing, denouncing militant violence in Pakistan as against Islam. The fatwa, issued in January, is the first such decree issued by such a broad range of scholars in Pakistan.

"Terrorism, suicide attacks, blasts and killing of innocent people are forbidden in Pakistan, in accordance with Sharia (Islamic law)," Khalil said, dressed in a starched white traditional shalwar kameez and looking relaxed on the manicured lush green lawn of his compound.

"Religious scholars belonging to different schools of thought are unanimous on the issue and are against terrorism."

Afghanistan has criticized the fatwa because it is specific to Pakistan. Khalil said Afghan President Ashraf Ghani should call Islamic scholars in his country together to issue a fatwa of their own. He offered to go to Kabul to help craft the fatwa.

"If Ghani does this we will support his initiative. We wish he would do it. If Afghans sit with us we will support them," he said.

Since the beginning of the year Pakistan has come under relentless pressure from the United States to crack down on militants, particularly the Haqqani network, it says has found safe havens in Pakistan. While Islamabad denies organized havens, it says insurgents move around among the 1.5 million Afghan refugees still living in Pakistan.

U.S. President Donald Trump in a blistering New Year's day tweet accused Pakistan of "lies and deceit" and later suspended hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid.