Freed Cleric Weds in Pakistan

By Khalid Tanveer
Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2000; 10:01 a.m. EST

MULTAN, Pakistan –– A Muslim cleric whom India freed from jail to end last month's highjacking of an Indian Airlines plane has married a teacher, family members said Wednesday.

Maulana Masood Azhar was one of three pro-Kashmiri militants freed on Dec. 31 in exchange for 155 passengers and crew aboard the hijacked aircraft in southern Afghanistan. Azhar had been held in an Indian jail since 1994, although he had not been charged.

The marriage ceremony was a simple affair held Sunday at a mosque in Azhar's hometown of Bawahalpur in eastern Punjab province, said his brother, Jehangir. The bride was a teacher at an Islamic religious school, family members said.

Azhar belongs to Harakat-ul-Mujahedeen, one of the most militant of the Islamic groups fighting in Kashmir. Formerly known as Harakat-ul-Ansar, Azhar's group has been declared a terrorist organization by the United States.

Azhar, who publishes two radical Islamic magazines, The Voice of the Freedom Fighter and the Voice of Kashmir, returned home to Pakistan from Afghanistan immediately after his release. Since then he has been holding rallies and giving sermons denouncing India and threatening to step up the jihad, or holy war, against India in Kashmir.

The former princely state of Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan, both of which claim it in its entirety.

Immediately after the wedding, Azhar said he would endure a six-month separation from his new bride to devote time to recruiting fighters for Kashmir. In one of his rallies, Azhar vowed to send 500,000 fresh young fighters to Indian Kashmir.

The presence of Azhar's group in Pakistan has caused international concern and condemnation from India, which accuses Islamabad of sending armed militants into its Kashmir territory. Pakistan denies the charge.