Author: Vishwa Mohan
Publication: The Times of India
Date: April 16, 2007
URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1912677.cms
Acting on the basis of a TOI alert, the United
Nations Security Council has frustrated Pakistan's attempt to get Interpol
acquiesce to its claim that it was not sheltering India's most-wanted don,
Dawood Ibrahim.
While Pakistan had pulled off a coup of sorts
by getting the international police body to buy its protestation about Dawood
not being present on its territory, UNSC - acting in response to a query from
TOI - has ensured that Interpol continues to regard Pakistan as the place
where the fugitive don could be holed up.
Pakistan's success in getting the Interpol
records - Special Notice - airbrushed of any reference to Karachi as the possible
hideout of Dawood, since designated global terrorist, would have caused a
major setback to India, which has maintained that Dawood is being hosted by
ISI.
Interpol records listed two Karachi addresses
- House (NU-37), 30th Street, Defence Housing Authority, and White House,
near Saudi Mosque, Clifton - as Dawood's possible shelters. This marked an
endorsement of India's stance.
The expunction of the two at a time when all
evidence strongly points to the continued presence of the don in Pakistan
could have, however, almost reversed the situation to the latter's advantage.
It was a close shave, as Interpol, for reasons
not clear, suddenly found merit in Pakistan's disclaimer, expunging both the
Karachi addresses.
UNSC, which came to India's rescue by ensuring
that one of the addresses - White House, Clifton - was put back on Friday,
confirmed the "glaring change" to TOI.
It was TOI, which alerted a UNSC panel - Committee
1267, which is entrusted with the task of listing people aligned with Al Qaida
and Taliban - to the missing Karachi addresses. While Interpol is yet to respond
to the email from TOI despite repeated reminders, the UN panel acted promptly
and took up the matter with the world police body. The result: the White House
address was back on Interpol's Special Notice for Dawood by Friday.
"We have looked into this matter and
have discussed it with the relevant authorities at Interpol. It appears that
there has been a problem but this is now being resolved," the UN panel
said in an email to TOI, while thanking the paper for sounding the alarm bell.
Both the Karachi addresses of Dawood were
part of Interpol-UNSC's Special Notice issued in April last year. Since it
was the first-ever official disclosure of Dawood's Pakistan addresses and
possible location, it had caused a lot of embarrassment to Islamabad which
continues to feign ignorance over Dawood's whereabouts.
