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2003-06-10 India-Pakistan
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Terrorâs poster boys find they are out of favour
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He was among the Pakistan establishment's most trusted jehadi leaders, one of those who walked the credibility tightrope gingerly. One season he would be mouthing impassioned anti-India rhetoric, sending his boys across the LoC; the next would see him lying low and smouldering, at Islamabad's direction. In return, Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Maulana Masood Azhar received state patronage. But all this could be changingâand not entirely because of the diplomatic pressure India has mounted over the months.
But first a glimpse of the clout Azhar enjoyed till recently. Nothing illustrates this more vividly than the Pakistan government's decision to decline a request by Interpol for taking Azhar into custody. Ordinarily, the reprieve in March should have emboldened Azhar to brazenly espouse the jehadi cause. Instead, he now finds himself, at least temporarily, out of favour with the establishment. Sources say this is because Washington is convinced about his Al Qaeda links and believes he, along with other recalcitrant Islamist leaders, have been providing logistical support to fugitive Taliban and Arab followers of Osama bin Laden.
But it isn't only Azhar who is lying low. On June 1, Hizbul Mujahideen leader Syed Salahuddin was denied permission to convene a meeting of the United Jehad Council in Rawalpindi. The following day, the Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan was ordered to ask Salahuddin to shift the Hizb offices from the Jamaat premises. The Hizb has been operating from here since 1990. Azhar and Salahuddin's temporary fall from grace is also closely linked to the nature of the ties between the ISI and jehadi outfits. Sources say the ISI has now decided to bolster support for Prof Hafiz Mohammad Saeed of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). They say should the Indo-Pak peace initiative fail, the Lashkar would be the frontline jehadi group in the Valley and Hafiz Saeed the new public face of militants.
The reason for Azhar and Salahuddin's fall from grace is twofold. For one, the ISI has become wary of Azhar, what with Washington's allegations that he is linked to Al Qaeda. The other reason is the bitter internecine struggles within the Hizb. Intelligence sources say the Hizb has been disabled to the extent it can now provide little more than guides and logistical support to cadres from other jehadi outfits. It looks like Azhar, Salahuddin and Hafiz Saeed are at the crossroads. Who among them will become the establishment's favourite jehadi is to be seen. 
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Posted by Paul Moloney 2003-06-10 04:11 am||
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