KARACHI, Pakistan — Nimbly fingering his prayer beads, the headmaster of one of Pakistan's biggest Islamic schools fondly describes Osama bin Laden as an inspiration and fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar as his friend.
Nizamuddin Shamzai's madrassa, Jamia Banuri Town, educated many former Taliban leaders, and his son and nephew fought alongside the Taliban against the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan. And if any Taliban or al-Qaida fugitives turn up at his door, he says, they will be welcome and protected from American or Pakistani authorities.
"There isn't anyone who would turn them away," Shamzai said. "It is every Muslim's duty to help them."
Western intelligence officials believe many Taliban and al-Qaida members have found refuge at Islamic schools in Pakistan — some in the rural, deeply conservative tribal belt along the Afghan border and others in Pakistan's teeming cities.
Madrassas are often affiliated with militant groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammed and Harkat-ul-Mujahedeen, both of which used to have training camps in Afghanistan and worked closely with Taliban and al-Qaida leaders.
One former Taliban commander, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is in hiding, said he spent several days in Pakistan's southwestern city of Quetta with members of Harakat-ul-Mujahedeen. These days he is on the move, slipping back and forth across the mountainous border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Pakistani and American officials are well aware of the madrassas' potential as possible hiding places. However, raiding them could trigger a revolt. Many Pakistanis, including some without extremist views, would see it as an affront to their faith, especially if Americans were involved.
"We think there are some Taliban or al-Qaida, or both, at some of these schools, or certainly they know where many of them have gone," said one Western diplomat in Islamabad, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "But it is a secret society. We can't bust in there — not without causing a riot. All we can do is try to apply pressure on the militants and their infrastructure."
Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, has outlawed several extremist groups and has repeatedly vowed to crack down on madrassas that teach religious violence. But banned groups continue to operate — albeit discreetly — and the government has backed down on some of its plans to control religious schools.
It was at Shamzai's madrassa, a high-walled compound in the heart of Karachi, Pakistan's biggest city, that Jaish-e-Mohammed leader Masood Azhar called on the faithful to wage war on the United States.
The call was in January 2000, soon after Azhar was freed from an Indian prison in exchange for passengers and crew of an Indian Airlines plane that was hijacked to Kandahar, the Taliban stronghold in southern Afghanistan.
Other madrassas with well-established links to the Taliban and al-Qaida include Jamia Farooquia, whose headmaster, Maulvi Saleemullah Khan, visited Kandahar regularly throughout Taliban rule. Khan was a close friend and adviser of Mullah Omar.
Khan was a member of a Pakistani clerical delegation that was sent by the Pakistan government to Kandahar after Sept. 11 to urge Mullah Omar to hand over bin Laden. However, Afghans and Pakistanis who are familiar with the delegation said that instead, the Pakistani clerics told their hosts: "Fight the United States. Keep your morale high. We will help you."
"Saleemullah was one of four Pakistani mullahs who came regularly to Kandahar, who met with Mullah Omar," said Mullah Mohammed Khaksar, former Taliban intelligence chief who broke with the movement after its defeat.
He said other prominent Pakistani clerics who were frequent guests of Mullah Omar included Shamzai, Mufti Zarwali Khan of Karachi and Maulana Sher Ali Shah, who runs a madrassa in the frontier city of Peshawar.
Shamzai confirmed he often visited Omar and called himself Omar's confidante.
Saleemullah would not meet with reporters but his colleagues at his madrassa said he was a close friend of Omar's and had visited Afghanistan regularly during the Taliban's reign. Many Taliban figures attended his school and hold him in high esteem as their old professor.
Zarwali also said he had visited Kandahar many times during the Taliban era. He said he prays for Omar, whom he called a friend.
Khaksar said another Pakistani with close ties was Mufti Rashid Ahmed, founder of Al-Rashid Trust, which had its assets frozen by the United States for alleged terrorist links.
The group operated dozens of bakeries in Afghanistan during Taliban rule. U.N. official complained the trust sought to undermine the World Food Program's efforts there and urged the Taliban to allow only Islamic organizations into the country.