Pakistan Denies Militant Under Arrest(After Confirming Same Militant Under Arrest 9 Days Ago)

Source: BBC

Pakistan's top diplomat in India has said that the leader of a prominent Pakistan-based militant group is not being held in Pakistan.

Earlier this month, Pakistan said it had arrested Masood Azhar, founder of the Jaish-e-Mohammad militant group.

Pakistan's high commissioner to India, Shahid Malik, has now said Pakistan has no information about his whereabouts.

Mr Azhar is one of the most wanted men in India. He is on a list of people Delhi has demanded Pakistan hand over.

In an interview with an Indian TV channel, Mr Malik said: "We are looking for him. He is not under house arrest.

"As far as I know is wrong. He is not in Pakistan. We don't know where he is," Mr Malik said.

Maulana Azhar's last known whereabouts were in the city of Bahawalpur in the southern Pakistani province of Punjab.

Correspondents say he was supervising the construction of a madrassa, while keeping a low profile. He disappeared following the Mumbai attacks, and is believed to be in the custody of local intelligence agencies.

more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7789056.stm

And here is an article from Dec. 9th, where Pakistan confirms he was arrested:

New Delhi (IANS): Confirming the arrests of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhwi, a top suspect in the Mumbai terror strikes, and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar, Pakistani Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar Tuesday said India may be allowed to interrogate them.

Ruling out any movement of Pakistani troops towards Indian borders, Mukhtar asserted that Pakistan will "help India in every possible way" and made a renewed pitch for joint investigations into the Mumbai attack - a suggestion that India has spurned.

"Lakhwi was picked up yesterday (Monday).Azhar has also been picked up," Mukhtar told CNN-IBN in a telephonic interview in first comments by the Pakistani government on the arrests of the militant leaders who are wanted in connection with different terror strikes in India.

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