Masood Azhar

Masood Azhar, founder of terrorist organization Jaish-e-Mohammad, has gone missingHow Pakistan lost track of a globally proclaimed terrorist is fishy, to say the least

MQM founder Altaf Hussain has said the reports of JeM chief and UN-designated terrorist Masood Azhar having gone missing from so-called custody of the Pakistani ArmyIn a tweet, Hussain noted that the reports of Azhar and his family having gone missing has come ahead of the beginning of the key plenary session of FATF in Paris

The declaration comes nearly a month after the Parliament approved a crucial amendment to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) ActThe notification said the govt believes that Saeed, Azhar, Lakhvi and Dawood are involved in terrorism and are to be notified as terrorists under the new anti-terror law

The decisions have been taken nearly a month after Parliament approved a crucial amendment to The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act, 1967Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Muhammad Saeed were on Wednesday declared individual terrorists

Terrorism does not respect topography and global powers must be united in their stand

The decision followed weeks of intense negotiations after China on 13 March placed a hold on the French proposal moved on 27 February to declare Azhar a terroristAzhar’s group, the Pakistan-based Jaish -e-Mohammed was listed as a terrorist grouping by the UN in 2002

New Delhi is unlikely to relent and may press for action against all terror groups and their leaders who threaten IndiaPakistan has sought more time from the Paris-based FATF to curtail the activities of terrorist groups on its soil

Despite singing like a canary in Indian jail, the rabble-rousing preacher managed to retain his appeal to PakistanAzhar knew he was indispensable to Pakistan. His freedom gave birth to the Jaish-e-Mohammed

At last, Masood Azhar is officially a terrorist for the world. For this diplomatic success, much credit is due to the late A.B. Vajpayee. But rather than celebrate, we must stay alert

Action on Azhar is a step in right direction, but much depends on Pakistan’s future conduct