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PESHAWAR,
Pakistan --It's fairly simple. You put
down your name and address right
to left of course in this country -- and
when your name is called you die.
And
hundreds, if not thousands, do it every week
here, sign up for the jihad fight the
Americans in Afghanistan and become martyrs.
"Mullah Mohammed Omar hasn't called us
yet," said Mohammed Zahid, 25, manning
the Jamiat Tulba Islam (Islamic Youth) recruiting
booth in downtown Peshawar, "But when
he does, we are ready to go."
The Tulba Islam is only one of three recruiting
booths competing for Rupees and soldiers at
Jinnah Square, n the shadow of a huge ex-Sikh
fort, now housing the Pakistani army which
is helping the Americans. Two more booths are
set up right around the corner, and according
to Zhid, dozens more can be found in the countryside.
Volunteer
recruits put their names and addresses in
a large
blue accounting book marked "jihad" and,
according to Zahid, "when the go for the
jihad, their only aim is to be martyred."
"They don't expect to come back at all,
unless they capture the enemy," he said, "but
basically they just forget everything, including
returning."
Asked
if the volunteers had any experience, Zahid
said "most of them fought in Kashmir" but
he refused to elaborate. Pakistan has maintained
for years that it does not supply guerrilla
fighters in the violent struggle over Kashmir
which straddles both countries.
Bismallah Jam, 27, a carpet salesman stopped
by Thursday donated 1,000 rupees ($16), about
a week's salary, to a kitty that had reached
about 10,000 Rupees by mid day.
" I want them (the Taliban in Afghanistan)
to use it to buy ammunition to fight the Americans," he
said. He said he had already volunteered. His
name was already on the list.
At the Ishad al-Tawhid (Religious Publications)
booth next door, Bashir Khan was writing down
the name, father's name and address of Salmaan
Shah, an Afridi tribesman who wanted to become
a martyr.
Asked
if he had any experience, Shah laughed and
explained
to a foreign reporter "I
am Afridi. We make guns. That's what we do."
What are you trained in?
"Everything, and anything," he said, "I've
even fired a rocket launcher. Our business
is arms."
"I am ready to go," said the 20
year-old high school student, " And don't
expect to come back."
Khan took down his name, his father's name,
and his address. He was number 162 in the ledger
and that was the second ledger of the week.
The first one, numbered as carefully as the
first, filled up three days earlier.
None of them wants to return home alive.
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