Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood - Radical Politics and Ummah Tameer-e-Nau

Radical Politics and Ummah Tameer-e-Nau

After the Pakistan's atomic tests, Mehmood became an outspoken opponent of the Prime minister Nawaz Sharif's government, as he was against signing of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty by Pakistan. He also publicly opposed prime minister Sharif as the prime minister show some willingness to signing of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). Due to his open-public protest, he was asked to resign from his position by the prime minister Sharif. Later, he was transferred to the Nuclear Engineering Division of PAEC. Mahmood opted for early retirement from PAEC in 1999 as he was transferred to a non-technical position by the Prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

After his early retirement, Mehmood is reported to be attended the Dr. Israr Ahmad's preaching classes and private sessions on a regular basis. Dr. Israr Ahmed, one of the most important Islamic figure in Pakistan, is believed to be played an important and influential role in his later life. Thereafter, he, along with his close retired PAEC scientists, founded the Ummah Tameer-e-Nau ("Reconstruction for the Islamic Community"), a Pakistani based Islamic charity active in Afghanistan during the Taliban regime. The Ummah Tameer-e-Nau (UTN) focused on educational institutions, hospitals, demining operations, and Islamism.

In August 2001, Mahmood and one of his colleagues at Mahmood's Ummah Tameer-e-Nau charity met with Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in Afghanistan. "There is little doubt that Mahmood talked to the two Qaeda leaders about nuclear weapons, or that Al Qaeda desperately wanted the bomb", the New York Times reported.