Crackdown to escape terror label: Minister

Islamabad: Pakistan crackdown on Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) became inevitable after the UN Security Council sanctions committee this week branded the Islamic charity as a terrorist outfit, Defence Minister Ahmad Mukhtar said on Friday.

The action would prevent a possible move to label Pakistan as a terrorist state, the minister told reporters here.

"We are part of the international community and cannot afford confrontation with the whole world," he said, as police sealed more offices of JuD on the second day of the nationwide crackdown.

Police across the country have arrested an unspecified number of people belonging to the organisation, which is alleged to be a front for banned militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) blamed by India for the Mumbai terror attacks.

Headquarters of the organisation in Lahore, capital of Punjab, was sealed on Thursday along with 18 offices of the body in different cities of the province.

JuD chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed has been placed under detention at his home in Lahore and the accounts and assets of the organisation have been frozen, officials said.

Relief units

JuD-run schools and relief units like clinics have also been shut down, reports said.

The defence minister said war on terror "is our own war and in the interest of the country". Any individuals or organisation found trying to destabilise the country would be taken to task, he added.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmoud Qureshi issued a statement yesterday asking India to provide evidence to enable Pakistan to conduct its own investigation in connection with the Mumbai attacks.

"Our own investigations cannot proceed beyond a certain point without provision of credible information and evidence pertaining to Mumbai attacks," Qureshi said.

The foreign minister said Pakistan was complying with the decisions of the UN sanctions committee.

Pakistan had already initiated investigations on its own and "it is our firm conviction not to allow our territory to be used for any act of terrorism", he said.

However, the foreign minister pointed out that despite requests no evidence or information had been shared by India with the Pakistani government so far.

He said Islamabad had repeatedly underscored the need for serious, sustained and pragmatic cooperation between Pakistan and India to combat terrorism in either country.

Joint investigations

"Our proposals for the establishment of a joint commission as well as joint investigations have been made in an earnest effort to move forward in an area, which equally concerns both Pakistan and India."

Qureshi said Pakistan will pursue own investigations in accordance with its laws. It was committed to internationally respected concepts of due process, he added. "It is Pakistan's firm determination to do whatever it can to eliminate the threat of terrorism from South Asia," he added.

The government's action against JuD drew criticism from Maulana Fazlur Rehman, chief of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party, a partner in the ruling coalition led by the Pakistan Peoples Party.

Rehman told reporters JuD was a charity organisation and was not involved in any terrorist or illegal activities.

He said the government should have approached the UN to counter the Indian move against JuD but it succumbed to pressure and accepted the allegations without demanding evidence or making its own investigation.