Pakistan Detains Militant Islamic Leader

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, December 26, 2001

Pakistan Detains Militant Islamic Leader

Pakistani authorities on Tuesday detained anti-India militant leader, Maulana Azhar Masood, for violating a ban on his entry into the Northwest Frontier Province and making objectionable speeches, official sources said.

Masood, the founder of the Islamic militant group, Jaish-e-Mohammad, has been detained in his hometown in Rahimyar Khan in Southern Punjab, they said.

He was released from a prison in India in 1998 on the demand of hijackers of an Indian airliner to Kandahar, southern Afghanistan, and on arrival in Pakistan set up Jaish-e-Mohammad dedicated to helping militants in the disputed Kashmir region.

Jaish-e-Mohammad was included on a list of 41 foreign organizations that the U.S. State Department has labeled as terrorist. Foreign financial institutions are required to block the funds and assets of such groups.

Pakistan has been under pressure from India and the United States to act against the organization. India has accused it and another Pakistan-based group, Lashkar-e-Tayyba, of being responsible for the Dec. 13 attack on the Indian parliament.

Initially, Pakistan had maintained it would act against the two groups if India provided evidence that they were involved in the terrorist activities as alleged by the Indian leaders.

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