Date:16/05/2003 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2003/05/16/stories/2003051606000100.htm

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Azhar defies ban?

By Our Staff Correspondent

ISLAMABAD May 15. Defying the ban orders of the Pak.-occupied Kashmir (PoK) Government, the chief of the proscribed militant outfit, Maulana Masood Azar, is believed to have entered its territory.

It is not immediately clear if he entered PoK today or he was already there when the ban orders were issued. While a spokesman of Mr. Azhar claimed that his boss was in PoK, authorities in PoK vehemently denied the reports.

The ban orders came on the eve of Mr. Azar's scheduled address in Kotli town to coincide with the birthday celebrations of Prophet Mohammad. Till the filing of the report there was no confirmation on whether or not he is in Kotli.

The former President and Prime Minister of PoK, Sadar Qayyum Khan, whose party runs the Government in Muzaffarabad, told The Hindu that "it is a fact that a policy decision has been taken not to allow the entry of any of the Pakistan-based militant organisations into our territory. This, however, does not apply to indigenous outfits."

Mr. Qayyum, however, was not willing to identify the organisations considered to be "indigenous" by PoK. But he was categorical that neither the Jaish-e-Mohammad nor the Lashkar-e-Taiba qualified to be called as "indigenous".

The former PoK President was at pains to emphasise that the decision of the PoK Government to ban the entry of Pakistan-based militant outfits and their representatives into its territory had nothing to do with the latest peace initiative. "It is in the largest interest of people of Kashmir on both sides of the divide''.

A private Pakistan television channel, Geo, some time in the afternoon, first broke the story about the presence of Mr. Azhar in PoK. However, strangely there was no follow-up later in the day. In the evening the channel prominently carried the reported statement of the Deputy Prime Minister, Lal Krishna Advani, welcoming the ban on Mr. Azhar.

Reports from Muzafarrabad, capital of PoK, quoting his spokesman said Mr. Azar defied orders from the Pakistani Government and entered Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. However, police denied that Mr. Azhar had entered Pakistani Kashmir.

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