Taliban Comes to DC To Collect Tax-Free US Dollars
 

Washington DC, August 28, 2007: As Imran Khan ended his cricket career at a high note of winning the World Cup in 1992, he entered politics under the mentorship of Lt. Gen. Hamid Gul, the former Pakistani intelligence chief famous for helping Taliban's rise in Afghanistan.

Fifteen years later, in August, 2007, Axcess News, which claims to report "stories in an objective manner" to its daily readership of 3
million (1), called Imran Khan, a "Taliban
Leader." (2) Other media outlets have not made that connection just yet.

Khan initially won liberal and Western hearts by building a cancer hospital and fashioning himself as a reformer, but he has turned
increasingly to hard-line Islamist politics. After Khan cast a vote in favor of Fazlur Rahman, known as "Taliban mentor"(3), as prime
minister in 2002, a leader in his party told a Pakistani monthly, "Khan has more than a soft corner for the ousted Afghan Taliban. He
thinks that the orthodox religious militia did a great service to Afghanistan and Islam before they became a target of the Americans."

In December, 2004, Imran Khan asked the leadership of the religious alliance, Muttahida Majlis e Amal (MMA), to strive for bringing
together all the political forces of the country except the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML), against the US aggressions and
brutalities. While reiterating its stance about the President uniform, the MMA leadership said it was "an open war" against the US.(4)

Mr. Khan does not hate America entirely. He likes its greenback. On May 15, 2005 just days after the riots which he incited, killing 17
people and injuring dozens of others (5), Khan was in Washington, D.C. raising $175,000 for his cancer hospital. His fund-raising tour also
took him to Denver, Los Angeles, and New York. He has no problem risking the personal and financial well-being of his US-based donors, should Homeland Security eventually decided to investigate Mr. Khan's Taliban connections.

Even his political allies find Khan's duplicity hard to take. In 2002 one of his party leaders remarked: "Even we are finding it difficult
to figure out the real Imran. He dons the shalwar-kameez and preaches desi and religious values while in Pakistan, but transforms himself completely while rubbing shoulders with the elite in Britain and elsewhere in the West."(6)

Mr. Khan is scheduled to have fund-raising events in United States on August 31 (Washington, DC), September 1 (Dallas, TX), September 2 (Chicago, IL) and September 3 (Boston, MA). These events will be followed by fundraising telethon on September 8 and 9. Patriotic American readers are requested to call event venues and organizers to tell them that America is at war with the Taliban, and Americans don't appreciate being taken for a ride by a Taliban supporter, nay a Taliban Leader.

DC Event August 31:
Hilton McLean Tysons Corner, McLean, VA
Tel: 1-703-847-5000
Fax: 1-703-761-5100

Organizers:
Fauzia Kasuri 571-212-7272
Malika Chugtai 703-847-8833
Nigar Hussain 301-320-3973
Amer Jehangiri 571-212-6539
Samina Ali 301-208-0446
Narjis Bokhari 571-212-1098

Dallas Event September 1:
InterContinental Hotels and Resorts, Dallas, TX
Tel: 1-972-386-6000
Fax: 1-972-991-6937

Organizers:
Dr. Jalil Khan 972-672-5156
Shawn Bhagat 214-350-0453
Dr. Amir Malik 817-919-8703

Chicago Event September 2:
Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Rosemont, IL
Tel: 1-847-692-2222

Organizer:
Tasleem Raja 847-361-0430

Boston Event September 3:
Radisson Hotel Chelmsford, Chelmsford, MA
Tel: 1-978-256-0800
Fax: 1-978-256-0750

Organizers:
Naheed Usmani 781-254-4109
Rubina Khan 508-655-0757
Syed Iftikhar Hussain 401-524-6020
Fauzia Wali Khan 617-510-6010
Shahid Ahmed Khan 617-905-9060
Mohammad Ramzan 508-829-6197

 

(1) http://www.axcessnews.com/index.php/pages/show/id/1
(2) http://www.axcessnews.com/index.php/articles/show/id/11939
(3) http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/jul/23raman.htm
(4) http://pakistantimes.net/2004/12/01/national3.htm
(5) http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/05/15/newsweek.quran/
(6) http://www.newsline.com.pk/NewsDec2002/newsbeatdec5.htm