The Hindu : Pak. releases ex-Lashkar chief

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Apr 02, 2002

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Pak. releases ex-Lashkar chief

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

Maulana Masood Azhar

ISLAMABAD APRIL 1. The Pakistan Government has released Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, former chief of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, following court orders.

He was arrested days after the December 13 attack on the Indian Parliament, under Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) on charges of making inflammatory speeches. The Pakistan Government had insisted that his arrest along with that of the Jaish-e-Muhammad chief, Masood Azhar, had nothing to do with the charges of the involvement in the December 13 attack.

Notwithstanding its stated position about the detention of Prof. Saeed and Masood Azhar (one of the three militants released by India in December 1999 in exchange for the freedom of the passengers on board a hijacked plane), Pakistan's action was seen as a response to pressure from the United States and India.

Prof. Saeed's release was ordered as the Government did not book him under any specific charges. Under MPO, a person could be detained for a period of 90 days and in his case it ended on Saturday.

Spokesman of Prof. Saeed, Yahya Mujahid, was happy over the release and maintained that it was proof that all accusations of extremism and terrorism were false.

Following the resignation of Prof. Saeed as the chief of LeT and the change of name of its erstwhile parent organisation, Lashkar declared that it had shut down all operations in Pakistan and now confines its activities to Kashmir.

`No evidence on list'

Pakistan today said that while it had received a list of 20 fugitives allegedly in Pakistan, it had not been provided with any evidence to substantiate the list and charges. The Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman, Aziz Ahmed Khan, told a news conference that the latest position on the borders remained the same as the forces deployed continue to be there. He was responding to specific questions on the status of list of 20 given by India and the situation on the borders. In response to another question Mr. Khan said Pakistan was not interested in playing cricket with India if the other side was not interested.

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