NewsUKUK Politics Malik Jalal: Man on 'Kill List' appears on BBC radio asking the UK Government not to kill him Malik Jalal, from Waziristan, says he has been targeted in at least four drone strikes Malik Jalal has been warned by various authorities in Waziristan he is on the “Kill List” Getty iStock A man who claims to be on a so-called ‘Kill List’ of people to be targeted in US strikes has appeared on national radio asking the US and UK governments not to kill him. Malik Jalal, from Waziristan, Pakistan’s border area with Afghanistan, says he has been targeted in at least four drone strikes, narrowly missing the missiles each time. He told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme, he has been warned by various authorities in Waziristan he is on a “Kill List” and his children are “terrified” of dying in a missile attack. In one attack, Malik Jalal says a car driving behind him was hit by a missile while he was out visiting another village. “I heard the explosion and the back window of my car shattered. The car behind was in flames and the passengers were in pieces,” he said. In another incident, a friend’s house he was planning to visit for dinner was hit by a missile. “I was… about 500 metres away in my car,” he said. On the invitation of Lord Ken MacDonald, the former Director of Prosecutions, Malik Jalal has travelled to the UK to ask parliamentarians and the government to be taken off the “Kill List”. A tribal elder, whose role as an intermediary in settling disputes is recognised by the Pakistani government, Malik Jalal says he is being targeted due to his work with the North Waziristan Peace committee (NWPC) - a group attempting to bring peace between the Taliban and Government of Pakistan. According to the human rights charity Reprieve, who represents Malik Jalal, Western intelligence agents believe the NWPC allows the Taliban a safe haven on Waziristan. The NWPC say they want peace for their community, their families and themselves. In a letter addressed to Home Secretary Theresa May, who has oversight of MI5 and the NCA, and Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, who has responsibility for GCHQ and MI6, Malik Jalal has asked for meetings to clear his name and get off the Kill List. The US Ambassador is also copied into the letter. “I had a special role to improve security and we were making progress and that’s why I think American targeted us", Malik Jalal told the BBC. "I came close to being bombed four times, so in the end I realised they were on to me." “I have had to leave Waziristan. In my own family there are six people who are mentally destabilised because of the strikes. In Waziristan there are more than 400,000 people who have mental problems because of the drones. My own son is too scared to go back to Waziristan. “I have a peaceful role in Pakistan. I am not involved in terrorism. I came to Britain because I feel like Britain is like a younger brother to America. I am telling Britain that America doesn’t listen to us, so you tell them not to kill Waziristanis.” Shahzad Akbar, Malik Jalal’s Pakistani lawyer, and Director of the Islamabad Foundation for Fundamental Rights, said: “Malik Jalal has come all the way to this country to try to speak with people about how he can get off their Kill List and try to protect his family and friends. He is willing to speak to anyone at any time in any place to convince them that this killing is both immoral and counterproductive.” Clive Stafford Smith, Director of Reprieve, said: “It is horrifying that, in the 21st Century, we have drawn up a list of people we want to kill. "Malik Jalal puts a very human face on the horror of this policy. If democracy means anything at all, the Prime Minister must order a full and transparent inquiry into the Kill List, starting today.” When asked about Malik Jalal's concerns the Home Office and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office both told the Independent they do not comment on matters of intelligence.
He's a "Peace Envoy" with the North Waziristan Peace Committee, working to foster relationships between the Taliban and Pakistan?
PESHAWAR: Published: March 19, 2011 A grand jirga of tribal elders from North Waziristan Agency on Friday said that they would wage jihad against America to avenge those killed in drone attacks. A US drone attack killed at least 40 people, most of them tribal elders, in Datta Khel tehsil, North Waziristan on Thursday. Pakistan’s top leadership, including the army chief, have already condemned the attack. Malik Jalal Sarhadi Qatkhel, head of the North Waziristan Peace Committee, told reporters at the Peshawar Press Club that the tribes would wage a jihad against the US as well as Pakistanis who are helping them carry out the Predator drone strikes. He said that they had allowed their youths to carry out suicide attacks against the Americans. The tribal elder claimed that there were no al Qaeda or Taliban members in North Waziristan, or the rest of the tribal areas, and that children, women and the elderly were being massacred instead.
If I had my family and friends blown to bits by America I'd say some angry things too Doesn't mean he doesn't want peace in his region Maybe Pakistan and Taliban agreeing to peace and staying out of his region is the best way to do that
Really? I don't doubt he's on a Kill List but a "peace envoy" who declares Jihad on the US and sanctions suicide bombings cannot be taken seriously can he? People may argue Kill Lists are immoral, and they may well be, but unfortunately this is very much a case of - as the OP says, gonnae no kill me...please.
So what does he add to the peace process if he advocates violence - all out war in this case - because of his personal prejudices? He's as much use as a chocolate chainsaw. He declared Jihad, there's no point in crying about it now, is there.
He advocated violence after his friends and family were murdered. 5 years on, with civilians still being killed he is trying something different Interestingly if he is on a US kill list, why hasn't he been arrested by the UK their behalf
He advocated violence against the US whilst taking a role as a peacemaker. Why would they put him on a kill list? A real head-scratcher.
They need to invent some sort of drone ambulance, so if they get the wrong people, like the ones in the car behind him, they could be put back together again.
The article I quoted where he called for Jihad was from 2011. Maybe he was being targetted before then, before he joined this peacemaking cabal even? One can but wonder why.
