In a significant development, a Pakistani court on Saturday ordered the release of Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar, who is under house arrest.
Azhar is one of the terrorists released by India in exchange for the passengers of the Indian Airlines flight hijacked to Kandahar in 1999. His banned fundamentalist outfit is accused of being involved in the December 13, 2001 attack on Parliament.
The review board of the Lahore high court ordered Azhar's release overriding the reservations of security officers, who felt that his release would have an adverse impact on the law and order situation in Pakistan.
Azhar's release from preventive detention follows that of Hafeez Mohammed Sayeed, the founder leader of another fundamentalist outfit, Lashkar-e-Tayiba, by the same court.
Sayeed's release has been criticised by both India and the United States. Both the Islamic outfits are accused of being involved in the December 13, 2001 attack on Parliament and were subsequently banned by Pakistan President Gen Pervez Musharraf in February this year.
The leaders of both outfits had been taken into preventive custody immediately after the attack. In due course, they were shifted from prisons and placed under house arrest.
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