ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said recently it was shocked by the arrest of a visiting Kashmiri separatist leader in Belgium and demanded his immediate release, Amanullah Khan, Pakistan based chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), was arrested ‘in Brussels after an Interpol warrant was issued by India for his capture in connection with several murders, the Belgian public prosecutor’s office said.
“The government of Pakistan has been shocked over the arrest of Amanullah Khan,” a foreign ministry spokesman said.
He said Pakistan had conveyed its deep concern to Belgium and “will continue its efforts for an immediate and unconditional release” of Khan, in Brussels at the invitation of the European Parliament to all end a conference on Kashmir.
JKLF is one of the main militant groups fighting Indian forces in the two thirds of Kashmir ruled by New Delhi and seeking independence or union with Pakistan. Islamabad controls the remaining: third of the Himalayan region. The Pakistan spokesman said India was trying to obtain Khan’s extradition on “false and fabricated charges” as part of its efforts to discredit what he called the Kashmiris” struggle for their right to self-determination.
“It is also evident to the whole world that these allegations are politically motivated,” he said.
Article extracted from this publication >> November 12, 1993
