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India hopes UAE will deport Iqbal Mirchi
By Atul Aneja

NEW DELHI, FEB. 21. After the deportation of Aftab Ansari, India is hoping that the authorities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will take action against Iqbal Mirchi, a key player in the Dawood Ibrahim underworld network who allegedly runs a drug syndicate.

Driven by the U.N. Security Council Resolution 1373, that demands that all countries eliminate terrorism from their territory, major States in the Persian Gulf, besides the UAE, may now be persuaded to improve ``real time'' security cooperation with India, highly-placed Government sources said. India is keen on establishing the right kind of links among the security establishments in the Gulf countries that can facilitate action, especially against Indian-origin terrorists at short notice who may be residing on their soil.

Based in Dubai, the 51-year-old Iqbal Mirchi whose real name is Mohammed Iqbal Memon reportedly travels on a Somalian passport. An Interpol red-corner notice accuses him of manufacturing, storing and transporting narcotics.

Sources said that the war against terrorism had galvanised most of the Arab Gulf States to focus on pockets of extremism that may be present in their territory. The re- calibration of official policy, sources said, was starkly visible in Saudi Arabia. The detention of 300 to 400 Saudi extremists who may have spilled into Pakistan as a result of the U.S. campaign in Afghanistan, has made the Saudi leadership sit up. Saudi Arabia has demanded the deportation of these individuals, but the Pakistanis have pointed out that they have already been handed over to the U.S. The assessment here is that the Saudis are concerned over the presence in its decision-making fold of some of its citizens, who have associated themselves with overseas ``madrasas'' (Muslim religious seminaries) and adopted an extremist disposition. The possible link between some Saudi charities with extremists is also under internal scrutiny.

For instance, there have been allegations in the U.S. media of links between the Peshawar-based Rabita Trust with the Muslim World League (MWL) operating from Saudi Arabia. World leaders, including the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, however, have personally visited Saudi Arabia to assure the Government there that the world does not see any official Saudi patronage to these groups. On the contrary, it has been reinforced that Riyadh is seen as a key partner in global coalition against terrorism.

Aware of the post-September 11 ferment in the Arab world, India is now planning a new initiative to collectively reengage the Arab League, prior to the grouping's key two-day meeting in Lebanon on March 26.

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