ISLAMABAD, JANUARY 5: Mushtaq Ahmad Zargar, founder chief of Al-Umar Mujahideen, and one of the three persons released by the Indian authorities in the hostage-for-militants deal in the Indian Airlines hijacking case, arrived in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan Kashmir, late on Tuesday night, The Dawn reported on Wednesday. AFP quoting sources in the militant organisation Harkat-ul Jihad-El Islami reported that Maulana Masood Azhar, Pakistani cleric also freed by India, is in Karachi.Azhar spent several hours with his friends at an Islamic seminary in Karachi, the source said.The source said he knew nothing about the whereabouts of the five hijackers who seized the IA jet on Christmas eve and held the passengers and crew hostage on board for a week.The hijackers escaped after India gave in to their demands and released Azhar, Zargar and Ahmed Umar Syed Sheikh, a British passport holder. On Tuesday, the residents of Muzaffarabad witnessed a number of banners displayed in different localitiesinscribed with slogans in Urdu and English, welcoming Zargar.Zargar was described as one of the founding members of the ongoing militancy in Kashmir.The Dawn reported that Zargar reached Muzaffarabad at 9 pm. He was welcomed enthusiastically by members of the Al Umar and residents of Narul locality, where the Al Umar office is located.As Zargar got down from his vehicle, anxious and emotional members rushed towards him to hug him.``I cannot express my joy at seeing this courageous commander here amongst us on this blessed day. He is a source of inspiration for us all,'' said an Al Umar member, the report said.Zargar appeared tired as he was thronged by members of the Al Umar Mujahideen group.Zargar, however, made no comment to reporters who had been tipped of his imminent arrival after the hijack ended in Kandahar on December 31.``No retreat, no surrender is the slogan of Mushtaq Zargar,'' said one banner held aloft by a band of waiting militants, who had been expecting his arrivalfor the past three days.Earlier, Pakistan had said it will arrest the hijackers if they try to cross into Pakistan, which shares a long, porous border with Afghanistan.Pakistan's military ruler General Pervez Musharraf yesterday rejected Indian charges that Islamabad was behind the hijacking and urged restraint.Islamabad denies that the hijackers, who commandeered the Indian Airlines airbus A-300 on December 24, were Pakistanis and that they had crossed into Pakistan with the three militants after the hijack ended. Musharraf repeated that they had not entered the country.
