In developments which further lend credence to reports of Pakistan and Turkey joining hands to create unrest in India's Jammu and Kashmir, it has been revealed that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s secretive paramilitary group SADAT – said to be massively influenced by the Salafi-jihadist ideology – had tapped Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai, a US-based ISI agent of Kashmiri origin, to mobilise resources against India.
Headquartered in Istanbul, the Islamist paramilitary group Sadat is led by Erdogan's former chief military aide Adnan Tanriverdi and has played an important role in the training of militias in Syria and Libya, expanding Turkish leader's expansionist agenda in various continents.
Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 2011 and had pleaded guilty to illegally receiving $3.5 million from Pakistan for lobbying its activities in the US.
Now, Swedish Nordic Monitor website has revealed in a detailed investigation how Fai networked with SADAT’s front organization, the Union of NGOs of the Islamic World through his Kashmiri American Council (KAC), an outfit funded by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence.
KAC was officially listed as one of the IDSB’s two member organizations in the US, and Fai was a member of the IDSB’s council, the highest decision-making body of the organization, the investigation detailed.
"A review of SADAT’s past work shows that Fai frequently participated in events organized by SADAT and even met in person with Tanriverdi, a retired military officer who still advises the Turkish president, albeit in an unofficial capacity after his resignation in January 2020," revealed Nordic Monitor.
The report said that Fai met Tanriverdi in an IDSB meeting held in Germany's Cologne on September 22, 2018 to discuss joint projects and coordinate actions globally, especially mobilizing resources against India.
It further said that when Turkey and France clashed over differences in the eastern Mediterranean, Libya and Syria last year, SADAT mobilized its network around the world through the IDSB and some 350 members in 66 countries, including Fai’s organization, issued a declaration on September 11, 2020 slamming France and condemning what it described as rising hostility against Islam in the West.
Fai, a regular at various events organized by SADAT, had also participated in an online meeting held by the IDSB to condemn France and slam the West.
"Mr. Fai is accused of a decades-long scheme with one purpose — to hide Pakistan’s involvement behind his efforts to influence the US government's position on Kashmir," Neil MacBride, the United States attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia had said when Fai was indicted in 2011.
"His handlers in Pakistan allegedly funneled millions through the Kashmir Center to contribute to US elected officials, fund high-profile conferences and pay for other efforts that promoted the Kashmiri cause to decision-makers in Washington," MacBride had mentioned.
After serving time in prison, Fai was released in November 2013.
