Muslim Khan is a Pakistani militant and former spokesman for the
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan
The Pakistani Taliban (), formally called the Tehreek-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan (Urdu/ ps, , lit=Student Movement of Pakistan, TTP), is an umbrella organization of various Islamist armed militant groups operating along the Afghan–Pakistani bo ...
chapter based in
Swat.
Born in Kabal Tehsil, Swat, in 1954 Khan started out as a student activist of a left-wing secular party in the 1960s, but became a religious extremist in the early 1990s. He became the chief spokesman of the
Swat Taliban in 2007.
In an interview with
New England Foundation for the Arts
The New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA), headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, is one of six not-for-profit regional arts organizations funded by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and by private foundations, corporations and ind ...
, when asked about his usage of American-styled English and pronunciation, he revealed that he had lived for some time in
Boston, Massachusetts.
He had spent 4 years in the
USA
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
and worked as a painter in Boston. The BBC reported that Khan spoke Pashto, Urdu, English, Arabic and Persian, and had lived in or travelled across more than a dozen countries in the Middle East, Europe, the US and Asia.
In April 2009 he denounced any Pakistanis who disagreed with his interpretation of Islam calling them non-Muslims. It was also revealed due to a telephone intercept that Khan had urged attacks on the families of soldiers. "Strikes should be carried out on their homes so their kids get killed and then they'll realise". Before the start of the Army offensive against the Taliban, Khan claimed that his fighters controlled "more than 90 per cent" of Swat.
After the 2009 operation in Swat he was still at large, vowing that his men will step up attacks. However he was arrested on 10 September by the security forces of Pakistan in the suburbs of
Mingora
Mingora ( ps, مینګورہ, ur, ) is a city in the Swat District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Located on the Swat River, it is the 3rd largest city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the 26th largest in Pakistan. Mingora is the largest city and ...
.
He was one of eight men sentenced to death by a military court on 28 December 2016 for terrorism and other offences.
Khan's appeal before the
Peshawar High Court
The Peshawar High Court ( ur, ) is the highest judicial institution of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. It is located in the provincial capital Peshawar. The Parliament passed a bill extending the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court (SC) and the Peshawar Hig ...
was weakened following the
Supreme Court's decision in ''
Said Zaman Khan v. Federation of Pakistan''.
His sentence was briefly stayed by the High Court on 24 May 2017, on the basis of a petition filed by his wife.
References
External links
Taliban in Pakistani Ex-Resort: `Welcome, Osama!'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Muslim
Pashtun people
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan members
Taliban spokespersons
Living people
People from Swat District
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan
Pakistani prisoners and detainees
Prisoners and detainees of Pakistan
Pakistani expatriates in the United States
1954 births