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The following is research published today from MEMRI’s Special Dispatch Series, and Jihad & Terrorism Threat Monitor. Pakistani Military Officers' Links with Jihadist Organizations Egyptian Cleric Safwat Higazi Rebukes the People of Damascus for Not Joining the Revolution Inquiry & Analysis No. 727—South Asia Studies Project/Pakistan/Jihad and Terrorism Studies Project Pakistani Military Officers' Links with Jihadist Organizations By Tufail Ahmad* In recent years, a steady stream of media reports has revealed a long-running, deep nexus between the Pakistani military officers and terrorist organizations in Pakistan. Many of these Pakistani military officers have been arrested, dismissed from service, or jailed in connection with their involvement with militant groups. The Pakistani military does not generally confirm media reports that link its personnel to militant organizations. However, close observers of Pakistan developments know that Pakistani government officials sometimes refer to Pakistani soldiers arrested for their role in terror attacks in Pakistan as "former" soldiers. The cases involving Pakistani military officers range from coup plots, assassination attempts on General Pervez Musharraf when he was the president of Pakistan and chief of the Pakistani army, major terror attacks in Pakistani cities, and attacks on Pakistan Navy headquarters in Karachi, half a dozen bases of Pakistan Air Force (PAF), and Pakistan Army headquarters in Rawalpindi, among others. The main element connecting these military officers and jihadist organizations in Pakistan is the officers' jihadist mindset, and opposition to the U.S.-led war on terror. Some of the examples of such plots, coup attempts and terror attacks in which Pakistani military officers were involved are related below. Some of these cases, revealing the jihadist mindset of Pakistani officers, occurred prior to the 9/11 attacks. Two former officers of Pakistani military's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Khalid Khwaja and Colonel Imam - who nurtured a generation of the Taliban - were kidnapped and killed by the Taliban in 2010 and 2011, denoting the emergence of an ideologically committed and younger generation of militants who no longer accept instructions from ISI. The ISI, which has come under international scrutiny for its long-standing role in creating and nurturing militant groups, does not officially admit any wrongdoing by its agents. However, its role in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks became the subject of court investigations in two cases in the U.S. - the Chicago plot led by David Headley and Tahawwur Hussain Rana, and a case brought before a New York court by relatives of U.S. citizens killed in the Mumbai attacks. In a rare instance, the current ISI chief Lt.-Gen. Shuja Pasha – who is summoned by the New York court – admitted during a conversation with then-CIA Director Michael Hayden that at least two "former" Pakistan Army officers with links to the ISI were involved in the November 26, 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, according to a book by celebrated journalist Bob Woodward. To read the full report, visit http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/5587.htm. Special Dispatch No. 4092—Egypt/Syria/Inter-Arab Relations Egyptian Cleric Safwat Higazi Rebukes the People of Damascus for Not Joining the Revolution Following is an excerpt from an address by Egyptian cleric Safwat Higazi, which aired on Al-Nas TV on August 9, 2011. To view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/3072.htm. Safwat Higazi: "The people of Damascus, in whose country the revolution is being waged – in Hama, in Aleppo, and in Homs – must rebel against the injustice and the tyranny, and are bound to achieve freedom. The army of the people of Damascus – the Syrian army – instead of liberating the Golan, is killing Muslims, the Sunnis, in Aleppo, in Hama, in Homs, in Deir Al-Zour, and in Daraa." To read the full report, visit http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/5586.htm.