Islamabad, Dec 09: Pakistani authorities have
reportedly imposed restrictions on the movement of
Jaish-e-Mohammed founder Maulana Masood Azhar and confined him
to his home despite turning down India's demand for handing
him over.
Azhar, who 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,
has been confined to his multi-storey building in Model Town
area of Bahawalpur, The News daily reported on Tuesday.
The report quoted official sources as saying that Azhar's
activities had been restricted in the wake of India's demand
to hand him over along with criminals Dawood Ibrahim and Tiger
Memon.
There was no official word on whether Azhar had been
restricted to his home. The Pakistan Army yesterday confirmed
it had launched an operation against banned militant groups.
Lashker-e-Taiba commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhwi is among
over 20 militants arrested during the crackdown, sources said.
The Pakistan government yesterday turned down India's
demand to hand over Azhar, Dawood Ibrahim and Tiger Memon. The
demand had been made in a demarche handed over by India in the
wake of the Mumbai terror attacks.
Azhar's movements have been restricted 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.
The militant leader was being held in an Indian jail when
he was released by the Indian government in exchange for
passengers of the airplane hijacked by several Pakistani
terrorists and taken to Kandahar.
Soon after his release, Azhar formed the Jaish.
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, saying 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".
Bureau Report