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Posted
on 27-Dec-01 03:09 PM
Aide says rebel leader was secretly detained
By Farah Stockman, Globe Staff, Globe Correspondent, 12/26/2001
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Manlana Masood Azhar, the rebel leader Pakistan said it had arrested yesterday, has actually been in custody since last week, according to a government official.
The official said Azhar's capture had been kept secret because the nation's leaders did not want to appear to be caving in to India's demands for his arrest. He added that it was finally made public yesterday in an effort to ease the escalating military tensions between Pakistan and India.
India blames the group led by Azhar, Jaish-e-Mohammed, for an assault on the Parliament in New Delhi earlier this month.
''The government has been denying [the arrest] because they didn't want to show that they were bending under the pressure of the Indians,'' said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. ''But now, the Indians are standing on the Pakistani border. ... This is an attempt to avoid war.''
Azhar, whose capture is considered a significant concession by Pakistan, is the high-profile and charismatic leader of an organization that opposes India's rule over majority-Muslim portions of Kashmir. Azhar had been jailed in India in 1994, but was released after a plane hijacking by his supporters in 1999.
While the interior minister in Islamabad announced that Azhar had been detained in the North-West Frontier Province yesterday, the government official told the Globe that he had been arrested in Karachi Thursday night.
Indian authorities, including New Delhi's police commissioner, have blamed Azhar and his group for masterminding the Dec. 13 attack on Parliament. They also have implicated another rebel group, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba.
Last week, President Bush called for a crackdown on Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, and last month he asked for the funds of Jaish-e-Mohammed to be frozen. Pakistani officials initially asked for proof of their guilt and seemed reluctant to act openly against them, but they ordered a freeze of the two groups' assets earlier this week.
Pakistan's reluctance to announce Azhar's arrest underscored the delicate balance the government hopes to achieve as it deals with a population that is largely in favor of the activities of the rebels and increasing pressure from Washington and New Delhi, which say the groups are terrorist and must be shut down.
A document obtained by the Globe yesterday detailed a secret code of ethics established for the rebel organizations about six months ago in meetings with government officials. The code includes pledges that the groups ''will limit their activities to Kashmir only,'' ''will operate clandestinely,'' and will not resort to ''theft or kidnapping.''
The Pakistani government official said the groups had flouted the code of ethics, and that was the reason the government was now acting against them.
Azhar, the son of a retired Pakistani school teacher, was jailed by India in 1994 after launching military activities intended to force India from Kashmir.
In 1995, an organization called al Faran captured six Western backpackers - including two Americans - in Nepal and held them hostage, demanding Azhar's release. India refused, and one of the tourists was beheaded. One of the Americans escaped, but the others have never been seen again.
In 1999, five terrorists hijacked an Indian aircraft and flew it to Kandahar, Afghanistan, demanding Azhar's release. After an eight-day ordeal that left one Indian passenger dead, Indian officials freed Azhar and two other Kashmir rebel leaders.
Azhar returned to Pakistan, where he was welcomed as a hero. He founded Jaish-e-Mohammed and quickly became influential again in the fight against India.
Globe correspondent Rana Mubashir contributed to this repot.
This story ran on page A24 of the Boston Globe on 12/26/2001.
© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.
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