Pakistan Conflict Monitor

Rigi Arrest Hints at Easing Regional Tensions

Rigi Arrest May Show Easing Afghan Regional Tension, AlertNet, 25 February 2010

EXCERPT: "Iran's arrest of the leader of the Jundollah rebel group, possibly with help from Pakistan, is the latest sign of new cooperation among Afghan regional players positioning themselves for an eventual U.S. withdrawal. Islamabad's ambassador to Tehran Mohammad Abbasi said on Wednesday Pakistan had helped Iran capture Abdolmalek Rigi, leader of the Sunni rebel group blamed for bombings in Sistan-Baluchistan province, bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan. 'I should say that his arrest could not happen without Pakistan's help,' Abbasi told a news conference in Tehran, without giving further details. Iran's accusations that Jundollah operated from bases in Pakistan's Baluchistan province have been a cause of friction with Islamabad and Rigi's arrest -- in circumstances yet to be fully explained -- could go some way to easing tensions. Pakistan and Iran, which have also competed for influence in Afghanistan, have been trying to improve relations recently as regional players prepare for U.S.-led forces to start withdrawing in 2011. 'While Islamabad is cooperating with the United States, it must also balance those interests with its need for help from its neighbour, Iran, which, like Pakistan, understands it will be dealing with Afghanistan long after the United States has left,' the STRATFOR global intelligence group said."

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Related articles:
Jundallah arrest proves timely for Iran, Asia Times Online, 26 February 2010
Iran Jundallah leader claims US military support, BBC News, 25 February 2010
Rigi met US, Indian envoys in Afghanistan before arrest, The Nation, Pakistan, 25 February 2010
Pakistan proved right in Rigi case, The News International, 25 February 2010
Conflicting accounts arise over Iran rebel's capture, The Christian Science Monitor, 24 February 2010

Related posts:
Key Jundallah rebel leader arrested, 24 February 2010
Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran promise increased regional cooperation, 19 January 2010
Iran, Pakistan review concerns over border instability, 14 January 2010
Who is supporting Jundallah’s terror campaign?, 9 November 2009
The security situation in Balochistan, 28 October 2009

Key Jundallah Rebel Leader Arrested

Iran Gets Its Man, Asia Times Online, 25 February 2010

EXCERPT: "Iran on Tuesday triumphed in the arrest of Abdulmalik Rigi, the 31-year-old leader of Jundallah (Soldiers of God), a Sunni insurgent group accused by Tehran of undertaking a string of terror attacks in the country that have claimed scores of lives over the past few years. Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi described the capture of its most wanted fugitive as a 'great defeat' for the United States, Britain and Israel, which it has accused of supporting the group... However, while the capture of Rigi is a significant event, Jundallah, which has strong roots among ethnic Balochis in Pakistan, could emerge even stronger from this apparent setback as radical anti-Shi'ite members of Jundallah now linked to al-Qaeda are positioned to carry on without him. Jundallah carries out its operations against the Iranian Shi'ite regime mostly in Iran's southeastern province of Sistan-Balochistan, where the borders of Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan meet, but its main base is in Pakistan's Balochistan province... The circumstances surrounding Rigi's arrest are unclear. Iranian officials claim he was flying in a small plane from Pakistan to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates when Iranian authorities forced the plane to land in Iran. Baloch tribes in the Taftan area of Balochistan in Pakistan say Rigi was arrested inside Pakistan and then handed over to the Iranians. All that Iranian state television showed was a handcuffed Rigi being escorted by four masked commandos off a small aircraft."

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Related articles:
Iran arrests most wanted man after police board civilian flight, Telegraph, 23 February 2010
Pakistan helped Iran nab Jundallah chief, DAWN, 24 February 2010
Rebel leader capture delights Iranian press, BBC News, 24 February 2010
Jundallah: Profile of a Sunni extremist group, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 20 October 2009
An al-Qaeda "foothold" in Iran? [blog], Atlantic Council // New Atlanticist, 20 August 2009

Related posts:
Balochistan assessment: 2010, 12 January 2010
Balochistan: A "hotbed of militancy", 4 December 2009
Balochistan: "Unrelenting insurgency", 27 November 2009
Reforms for insurgency-hit province unveiled, 24 November 2009
Who is supporting Jundallah’s terror campaign?, 9 November 2009

Who is Supporting Jundullah’s Terror Campaign?

'Who is Supporting Jundullah’s Terror Campaign and Why?', Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, 6 November 2009

EXCERPT: "Iran has accused Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United States of engaging in covert funding of the Jundallah ... Evidently, Pakistan would benefit from fueling Sunni sectarian violence in Sistan-Baluchistan for three reasons. One, though Iran and Pakistan have maintained friendly official ties, Pakistan’s Sunni Taliban extremists have long resented the Shia regime ... Secondly, sectarian violence could be a means to weaken Iran’s position in negotiations on the nuclear issue, with Pakistan doing the American bidding ... Third, Pakistan as a Sunni majority nation would be interested in containing the rise of the Shias headed by Iran. Jundallah is based in Pakistan’s Baluchistan province and is active in the Baluchi areas of Iran and Pakistan as well as in Taliban strongholds in southern Afghanistan. From its base in Pakistan’s Baluchistan, Jundallah has had opportunities to forge cooperative ties not only with the ISI but also with the Taliban as well as with the intelligence services of other countries interested in stoking anti-Iranian activism."

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Related articles:
Iran's Guards say Pakistan released Jundullah leader, Tehran Times, 7 November 2009
Who supports Jundullah?, Frontline // PBS, 22 October 2009
Jundullah, Sunni rebel group, claims responsibility for Revolutionary Guard attack in Iran, The Associated Press / The Huffington Post, 19 October 2009
Jundullah claims responsibility for terror attack, Press TV, 18 October 2009

Related posts:
Pakistan's other problem area: Balochistan, 5 November 2009
The security situation in Balochistan, 28 October 2009