Like Osama-bin_laden, Maulana Azhar is a hero in Pakistan.
Lahore: Dozens of bearded men in camouflage uniforms and wielding automatic rifles overran the Lahore international airport on Wednesday to welcome Maulana Masood Aazhar — one of three militants freed by India to end last month’s hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane.
Looking like a small army, more than 100 men — all believed to be members of the militant islamic group Harakat-ul-Mujahideen of which Azhar is a member — appeared to overrun the airport, their weapons prominently displayed, said eyewitnesses.Azhar emerged from the terminal building surrounded by dozens of bodyguards.
His cavalcade of motorcycles, pick up trucks and cars roared through the streets of the eastern Punjab capital. Men with weapons were packed into the back of trucks and on motorcycles.The entourage of about 200 came to a stop at Al-Mansoor, an Islamic religious school, on the outskirts of the city.
As Azhar entered, about 1,000 people waved their hands and shouted "God is Great". The United States has asked Pakistan to shut down Azhar’s organization, Harakat-ul-Mujahideen, suspected by Washington to have links with the hijackers of the Indian Airlines plane.
The whereabouts and the identities of the hijackers is not known, but Azhar says they have all returned to Kashmir. He didn’t say how he knew that. “They never disclosed their identities, but they said they were Kashmiris and they are in Kashmir,” he said on Wednesday.
“They will carry out their mission to make life tough for India. The hijackers are willing to die for the jehad.” But Washington has asked Pakistan to clamp down on militant Islamic groups operating here, particularly the Harakat-ul-Mujahedeen.
A sister organization, Harakat-ul-Jehad, on Tuesday warned of a violent backlash if the government accedes to the American demand.
Lahore: Dozens of bearded men in camouflage uniforms and wielding automatic rifles overran the Lahore international airport on Wednesday to welcome Maulana Masood Aazhar — one of three militants freed by India to end last month’s hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane.
Looking like a small army, more than 100 men — all believed to be members of the militant islamic group Harakat-ul-Mujahideen of which Azhar is a member — appeared to overrun the airport, their weapons prominently displayed, said eyewitnesses.Azhar emerged from the terminal building surrounded by dozens of bodyguards.
His cavalcade of motorcycles, pick up trucks and cars roared through the streets of the eastern Punjab capital. Men with weapons were packed into the back of trucks and on motorcycles.The entourage of about 200 came to a stop at Al-Mansoor, an Islamic religious school, on the outskirts of the city.
As Azhar entered, about 1,000 people waved their hands and shouted "God is Great". The United States has asked Pakistan to shut down Azhar’s organization, Harakat-ul-Mujahideen, suspected by Washington to have links with the hijackers of the Indian Airlines plane.
The whereabouts and the identities of the hijackers is not known, but Azhar says they have all returned to Kashmir. He didn’t say how he knew that. “They never disclosed their identities, but they said they were Kashmiris and they are in Kashmir,” he said on Wednesday.
“They will carry out their mission to make life tough for India. The hijackers are willing to die for the jehad.” But Washington has asked Pakistan to clamp down on militant Islamic groups operating here, particularly the Harakat-ul-Mujahedeen.
A sister organization, Harakat-ul-Jehad, on Tuesday warned of a violent backlash if the government accedes to the American demand.
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