|
Name of Organization |
Ummah Tameer-e-Nau (UTN) |
Formation |
Ummah
Tameer-e-Nau was formed in March 2000 by a retired
nuclear scientist. It was registered as a
non-governmental Afghan relief agency.
|
Leadership |
The Founder
and Chairman
of UTN is Dr. Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood (Image 1).
Before forming UTN, Dr. Mahmood was the Director General
of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC). He
resigned in 1998 because of his fundamentalist views.
According to some sources, one of the reasons for his
resignation was the government’s willingness to sign the
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).
Mahmood had previously served as ‘Director for Nuclear
Power’, and was the chief designer and director of the
Khushab-1, a 50MWt Heavy Water and Uranium reactor for
the production of plutonium and tritium.
Following his resignation from the PAEC, Mahmood began
publishing articles and books that involved the
relationship between Science and Islam. In 2000, Mahmood
began attending lectures by Dr. Israr Ahmed, who
significantly influenced elements in his political
philosophy.
In his own writings and speeches, Mahmood had advocated
the sharing of nuclear technology with other Islamic
nations.
He was arrested by the ISI in Islamabad on the 23rd
of October, 2001 along with his associate Chaudhary
Abdul Majeed for having links with
Al-Qaeda.
(Image 1)
Other prominent members of the UTN include;
·
Chaudhary Abdul Majeed, who was also a former scientist
at the PAEC.
·
Vice President: Arshad Ali Chaudhary
·
Finance Director: Hamayun Niaz
·
Other
Directors: Mohammad Hanif, Mirza Baig and Sheikh
Mohammed Tufail. |
School of thought/ Classification |
Deoband
Sunni/Sunni |
Ideology |
UTN
proclaims to be an organization engaged in relief,
rehabilitation and reconstruction activities.
|
Framework |
The UTN has
established its network in Pakistan and Afghanistan. |
Financial resources
|
UTN collected funds for their operations through
donations by its members. The group has been linked with
a charity group, Al-Rashid Trust, which may have
financed the group.
According to the South Asia Terrorism Portal, The
group’s founder Bashiruddin Mahmood and Abdul Majeed are
reported to have donated about Rs. 1 million from their
retirement funds to finance the group initially. |
Recruitment tools & demographics |
UTN
recruits are educated, middle class Pakistanis who are
engineers, physicists, chemists or were former
military/intelligence officials. |
Connections & linkages |
UTN’s founders
and former scientists, Bashiruddin Mahmood and Abdul
Majeed have had close ties with Mullah Omar,
Osama Bin Laden and the Al-Qaeda.
The UTN
is also affiliated with the banned outfit;
Al-Rashid Trust.
UTN’s
operations in Afghanistan were supported by the Taliban
government. UTN’s founder Sultan Mahmood is said to have
been a supporter of the Taliban regime, describing it as
the ‘ideal Islamic state’. |
Areas of Operation |
Pakistan
and Afghanistan. |
Tools |
N/A |
Name Variations |
Ummah
Tameer-e-Nau is referred to by the following names:
1.
Reconstruction of the Muslim Ummah
2.
Foundation
for Construction
3.
Nation
Building
4.
Reconstruction Foundation
5.
Reconstruction of the Islamic Community
6.
Ummah
Tameer-e-Nau
7.
UTN |
Who they are:
The Ummah Tameer-e-Nau is an organisation founded by former
Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission member Dr. Sultan Bashiruddin
Mahmood. It was formed as a relief agency for the Afghans.
However, the organisation is suspected of providing information
about the construction of biological, chemical and nuclear
weapons to the Al-Qaeda.
According to the UN Security Council Committee, on 24th
December, “Ummah Tameer e-Nau (UTN) was listed pursuant to
paragraph 8 (c) of resolution 1333 (2000) as being associated
with Al-Qaida, Usama bin Laden or the Taliban for ‘participating
in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing or
perpetrating of acts or activities by, in conjunction with,
under the name of, on behalf, or in support of’, ‘supplying,
selling or transferring arms and related materiel to’ or
‘otherwise supporting acts or activities of’ Usama bin Laden,
Al-Qaida and the Taliban”.
History:
UTN was formed by a former nuclear scientist in March 2000, as a
non-governmental Afghan relief agency.
The organization referred to itself as "an organisation engaged
in relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction activities". The
name of the organization also refers to the global Muslim
community that transcends national boundaries. After its
formation, UTN carried out relief/reconstruction work in
Afghanistan. Some of these projects included rebuilding schools
and hospitals, the provision of medical supplies, educational
reforms and the arrangement of mobile health units and primary
school books.
The founder of UTN, Bashiruddin Mahmood, had been previously
employed at Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), where he
had openly called for the proliferation of nuclear technology to
other Muslim countries; in this view, Pakistan’s nuclear
capability belonged to the global Muslim community, and thus had
to be shared.
He was also an opponent of Pakistan’s arms control policy, and
the willingness of the government to sign the Comprehensive Test
Ban Treaty (CTBT). Mahmood’s Islamist tendencies were well known
during his tenure at PAEC, and eventually led to his demotion
and resignation.
In October 2001, U.S. intelligence determined that Mahmood and
Chaudry Abdul Majeed, a senior UTN member and former scientist
at the Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology
(PINSTECH) had been meeting with Al Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan
to discuss nuclear weapons technology.
According to reports, the two individuals met with Osama bin
Laden, his Egyptian deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri and various other
Al Qaeda members. UTN’s objectives also included providing
nuclear technology to other Muslim countries. It was revealed by
Libyan intelligence that UTN had approached Libya with an offer
to help ‘build a nuclear bomb’.
The founder, Dr. Mahmood and his associate Dr. Abdul Majeed were
arrested by the ISI in 2001 for their association with the
Al-Qaeda.
Organization’s Message:
The Ummah Tameer-e-Nau aims at attracting investments for the
rebuilding of the Taliban-led Afghanistan. Their goal is to
raise funds to re-establish the regime of Taliban in
Afghanistan.
Target Audience:
UTN targets educated, middle class Pakistanis who are engineers,
physicists, chemists and etc.
Tools:
Information about Sultan Mahmood’s books is available at the
following weblink:
http://www.darulhikmat.com/index.php/
Splinter Groups:
N/A
|