Masood Azhar 'arrested'

By Amit Baruah

ISLAMABAD, FEB. 7 Has Masood Azhar, a one-time Harkat-ul- Mujahideen leader who has now formed a new militant outfit, been arrested? Or was he merely picked up for interrogation by the Pakistani authorities?

A report in the Urdu daily, Pakistan, speculated that Azhar, one of those released by the BJP-led Government as part of the terrorists-for-hostages deal, claimed today that he had been arrested and taken to an unknown destination. The paper, however, said the report could not be confirmed.

Another information available here suggests that the Pakistani authorities have been putting pressure on Masood Azhar for some time now. This indicates that Azhar was taken away for questioning and released after some time.

Apparently, the authorities have been asking him questions on the whereabouts of Ibrahim Azhar, the militant's brother and believed to be the chief hijacker of the Indian Airlines Airbus aircraft.

Though it will soon be two months since the hijacking, Ibrahim Azhar has so far not surfaced in Pakistan. No convincing explanation has been offered by Masood Azhar or his family about Ibrahim's location.

If he was not involved in the hijacking, then nothing stops him from putting in an appearance in Pakistan. But the longer he does not surface, the greater the evidence that Ibrahim Azhar was the brain behind the operation to get his brother- the hysterical Pakistani cleric- from jail.

Interestingly, the Pakistani Chief Executive, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, has said that a `splinter mujahideen group' could have been behind the hijacking of the Indian Airlines aircraft.

``There are some splinter groups, some misguided people who bring bad name to the Mujahideen. Those are the people who should desist from any form of terrorism, whether it is the hijacking of planes or...killing innocent civilians or bomb blasts....'' Gen. Musharraf was quoted as saying in Muzaffarabad (PoK) on Saturday.

In a related development, Mr. Fazlur Rehman Khalil, Harkat-ul- Mujahideen chief, has dismissed as ``bogus'' reports that Masood Azhar had either been arrested or interrogated as reported in a section of the press. ``It is a false report,'' Mr. Khalil told this correspondent.

Asked if he was aware of the whereabouts of Ibrahim Azhar, Mr. Khalil said that Ibrahim Azhar had possibly still not returned after going to perform ``umra'' in Saudi Arabia.

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