ID :
34784
Wed, 12/10/2008 - 09:43
Auther :
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http://m.oananews.org//node/34784
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Pak places Masood Azhar under house arrest
Rezaul H Laskar
Islamabad, Dec 9 (PTI) Jaish-e-Mohammed founder and top terrorist Maulana Masood Azhar has been placed under house arrest as international pressure mounted on Pakistan to act against such "non-state actors" in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks in which Pakistani elements were found to be involved.
Restrictions were imposed Monday on Azhar's movements and
he was confined to his Bahawalpur home, which was ringed by
security personnel, Dawn News channel quoted sources in the
interior ministry as saying.
The Pakistani action came even as Islamabad rejected
India's demand to hand over the JeM founder along with two
1993 Bombay blasts accused -- underworld dons Dawood Ibrahim
and Tiger Memon.
Masood's organisation is widely believed to have close
links with other major terror groups operating out of Pakistan
like al-Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Toiba and runs a number of terror
training camps in PoK as well as other areas of Pakistan.
The action against Masood came a day after security
forces arrested key LeT commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhwi,
suspected to be the mastermind of the Mumbai attacks, along
with 20 other militants. The Pakistan Army Tuesday said the
crackdown against the banned militant group will continue.
"More arrests are expected," an army official said
adding that operations will continue till "desired results"
are achieved.
A contingent of security personnel had been deployed
outside Azhar's house since Monday, the sources said but added
that he would not be handed over to India.
No action would be taken against Masood, sources said
unless India provides "concrete evidence" of his involvement
in the Mumbai attacks.
India's demand to hand him over along with Dawood and
Memon was made in a demarche on December 1. Pakistan turned
down the demand, but said it would take action under the
country's laws against any Pakistani national found to be
involved in the Mumbai attacks.
Azhar formed the Jaish shortly after he was freed by
Indian authorities along with two other terrorists in exchange
for passengers of an Indian Airlines flight hijacked from
Kathmandu to Kandahar in 1999.
Masood had been arrested in Srinagar in a sudden swoop by
the authorities and had later told police officials that he
had infiltrated to Kashmir to form a broad umbrella
organisation of the various Pakistan supported groups.
His movements have been restricted by Pakistan in the
past too when India had demanded his handing over.
There have been reports in recent months that Azhar and
the Jaish had stepped up activities, including the raising of
funds and organising large rallies, in the Bahawalpur area.
Azhar and his group had faced restrictions in the wake of
the 2001 attack on the Indian parliament and the 2003 suicide
attacks on former President Pervez Musharraf.
The Jaish was renamed as Khudam-ul-Islam and reorganised
under the command of Mufti Abdul Rauf, the younger brother of
Azhar.
The US State Department designated the Jaish a foreign
terrorist organisation in December 2001, forcing the Musharraf
regime to slap a ban on the group in January 2002.
Azhar was formally arrested by Pakistani authorities in
December 2001 following the attack on India's parliament but a
review board of the Lahore High Court ordered his release a
year later.
Azhar reportedly fell out of favour with the Pakistani
establishment in the wake of American allegations about his
al-Qaeda links and because of the belief that he had been
providing logistical support to fugitive al-Qaeda and Taliban
leaders.
Following the January 2002 kidnapping and murder of
American journalist Daniel Pearl by Sheikh Ahmed Saeed Omar, a
close aide of Azhar, the US had sought the custody of the
Jaish chief.
The US had said its authorities wanted to file charges
against him for his involvement in the hijacking of the Indian
Airlines flight, which had an American citizen on board.
However, Pakistani authorities had turned down the US
demand, saying Azhar was not a hijacker and his incarceration
in India had been "illegal". PTI RHL
PMR
Islamabad, Dec 9 (PTI) Jaish-e-Mohammed founder and top terrorist Maulana Masood Azhar has been placed under house arrest as international pressure mounted on Pakistan to act against such "non-state actors" in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks in which Pakistani elements were found to be involved.
Restrictions were imposed Monday on Azhar's movements and
he was confined to his Bahawalpur home, which was ringed by
security personnel, Dawn News channel quoted sources in the
interior ministry as saying.
The Pakistani action came even as Islamabad rejected
India's demand to hand over the JeM founder along with two
1993 Bombay blasts accused -- underworld dons Dawood Ibrahim
and Tiger Memon.
Masood's organisation is widely believed to have close
links with other major terror groups operating out of Pakistan
like al-Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Toiba and runs a number of terror
training camps in PoK as well as other areas of Pakistan.
The action against Masood came a day after security
forces arrested key LeT commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhwi,
suspected to be the mastermind of the Mumbai attacks, along
with 20 other militants. The Pakistan Army Tuesday said the
crackdown against the banned militant group will continue.
"More arrests are expected," an army official said
adding that operations will continue till "desired results"
are achieved.
A contingent of security personnel had been deployed
outside Azhar's house since Monday, the sources said but added
that he would not be handed over to India.
No action would be taken against Masood, sources said
unless India provides "concrete evidence" of his involvement
in the Mumbai attacks.
India's demand to hand him over along with Dawood and
Memon was made in a demarche on December 1. Pakistan turned
down the demand, but said it would take action under the
country's laws against any Pakistani national found to be
involved in the Mumbai attacks.
Azhar formed the Jaish shortly after he was freed by
Indian authorities along with two other terrorists in exchange
for passengers of an Indian Airlines flight hijacked from
Kathmandu to Kandahar in 1999.
Masood had been arrested in Srinagar in a sudden swoop by
the authorities and had later told police officials that he
had infiltrated to Kashmir to form a broad umbrella
organisation of the various Pakistan supported groups.
His movements have been restricted by Pakistan in the
past too when India had demanded his handing over.
There have been reports in recent months that Azhar and
the Jaish had stepped up activities, including the raising of
funds and organising large rallies, in the Bahawalpur area.
Azhar and his group had faced restrictions in the wake of
the 2001 attack on the Indian parliament and the 2003 suicide
attacks on former President Pervez Musharraf.
The Jaish was renamed as Khudam-ul-Islam and reorganised
under the command of Mufti Abdul Rauf, the younger brother of
Azhar.
The US State Department designated the Jaish a foreign
terrorist organisation in December 2001, forcing the Musharraf
regime to slap a ban on the group in January 2002.
Azhar was formally arrested by Pakistani authorities in
December 2001 following the attack on India's parliament but a
review board of the Lahore High Court ordered his release a
year later.
Azhar reportedly fell out of favour with the Pakistani
establishment in the wake of American allegations about his
al-Qaeda links and because of the belief that he had been
providing logistical support to fugitive al-Qaeda and Taliban
leaders.
Following the January 2002 kidnapping and murder of
American journalist Daniel Pearl by Sheikh Ahmed Saeed Omar, a
close aide of Azhar, the US had sought the custody of the
Jaish chief.
The US had said its authorities wanted to file charges
against him for his involvement in the hijacking of the Indian
Airlines flight, which had an American citizen on board.
However, Pakistani authorities had turned down the US
demand, saying Azhar was not a hijacker and his incarceration
in India had been "illegal". PTI RHL
PMR
