Turnaround: Pak envoy says Jaish chief is not under house arrest

In anothe rexample of what Indian officials are repeatedly desceibe as pakistan dupilicity the country's Hgh Commissioner in New Delhi Shahid Malik said on Wednesday that Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar is not under house arrest, thereby implying that Pakistan is not aware of the jehadi leader's whereabouts.This statement made during the course of a TV interview turns on its head another statement made earlier by Pakistan defence minister Chaudhary Mukhtar Ahmed that Azhar was in police custody.

"We are looking for him. He is not under house arrest. As far as I know, it (news reports of Azhar's house arrest) is wrong. He is not in Pakistan...We don't know where he is,'' said Malik in response to a question on why Pakistan had not handed him over to India till now. Azhar was one of the three terrorists who had been released to ensure the safety of passengers in the Kandahar hijacking case.

The shift on Azhar coincided with clear signs of Pakistan's defiant denial about its responsibility for the terror attack, with the High Commissioner disregarding Kasab's father owning up the terrorist, and bluntly ruling out Indian agencies being given access to Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi, the Lashkar mastermind of the Mumbai massacre.

Malik made these remarks even as foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday again asked Pakistan to crack down on terrorists and hand over fugitives to India.

Malik also denied having received any letter from arrested terrorist Mohammad Ajmal Kasab. The police in Mumbai had said earlier that Kasab had written to the Pakistan High Commission admitting that he was a Pakistani. "Please don't give too much importance to newspaper reports. No letter has been delivered to me or to the (Pak) High Commission,'' stated Malik. He also set aside media reports about Kasab's father in Pakistan accepting that he was a Pakistani saying, "We need something which is incontrovertible and which cannot be challenged in a court of law.''

Malik said Pakistan was also not contemplating giving access to Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi, the alleged mastermind of the Mumbai attacks, to FBI for investigation. "At the moment we are not contemplating it...Please allow us to carry forward the process of investigation and see whether there is any merit in involving others or not,'' he stated.

As Malik made these remarks, defence minister Mukhtar Ahmed said in Pakistan on Wednesday that Jamat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed cannot be tried in a court of law because there was not enough evidence against him. He said that this was because India had not shared any evidence with Pakistan.

The High Commissioner, who seemed to be in a denial mode, also said Dawood Ibrahim, underworld don and main accused in the 1993 Mumbai blasts, was also not in Pakistan as claimed by New Delhi. "Fact of the matter is that he is not in Pakistan,'' said Malik. For good measure, he added that the ISI too has no links with LeT.

Meanwhile, foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday reiterated India's demand that Pakistan hand over 40 fugitives to New Delhi and that Pakistan crack down on terrorists. "We expect Pakistan to act as per their own commitment given by two Presidents. I told them that mere intention or expression of intent to act is not adequate....if that is not followed by action,'' Mukherjee told reporters.

Mukherjee said Pakistan is "obliged'' to implement the UN Security Council resolution declaring Jamaat-ud-Dawa, a front of Lashkar-e-Taiba, as a terror outfit