Militant leader 'not in Pakistan'

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Pakistan's top diplomat in India has said that the leader of a prominent Pakistan-based militant group is not being held in Pakistan, reports BBC.
Earlier this month, Pakistan said it had arrested Masood Azhar, founder of the Jaish-e-Mohammad militant group.
Pakistan's high commissioner to India, Shahid Malik, has now said Pakistan has no information about his whereabouts.
Mr Azhar is one of the most wanted men in India. He is on a list of people Delhi has demanded Pakistan hand over.
However, in an interview with an Indian TV channel, Mr Malik said: "We are looking for him. He is not under house arrest."
"As far as I know the report about Mr Azhar's house arrest is wrong. He is not in Pakistan. We don't know where he is," Mr Malik said.
Earlier this month, Pakistan Defence Minister Mukhtar Ahmed said Mr Azhar had been placed under house arrest as a part of a crackdown following the attacks on Mumbai (Bombay).
Jaish-e-Mohammad is accused of taking part in the attack on India's parliament in 2001, along with the group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which brought the two countries to the brink of war.
Last week, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said he had "yet to receive any report" of Masood Azhar's detention, contradicting what his defence minister had said.
In 1999, Mr Azhar was freed from an Indian prison in exchange for passengers on a hijacked Indian Airlines jet. He set up Jaish-e-Mohammad in early 2000, shortly after being set free by India.
In his TV interview, Mr Malik also said that Dawood Ibrahim, blamed for serial bombings in Mumbai in 1993 that left at least 250 dead, is "not in Pakistan".
Mr Ibrahim also features in the list of 20 fugitives that India reportedly wants Pakistan to hand over.
Pakistan has held two militants of another Pakistan-based Kashmiri militant group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, that India says was behind the deadly attacks in Mumbai.
Pakistan has been under intense pressure to act after the attacks, which left at least 170 people dead.
Meanwhile: Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has said there is still no firm proof that gunmen who attacked the Indian city of Mumbai came from Pakistan.
US, Indian and British officials all say there is clear evidence suggesting the attacks originated in terrorist training camps inside Pakistan.
But speaking to the BBC, Mr Zardari said there was still no conclusive evidence to substantiate the claim. However he promised Pakistan would take action if a link was proved.
Mr Zardari told the BBC's Alan Little in Islamabad that Pakistan was prepared to act if adequate evidence of any Pakistani complicity in the attacks emerged.
Meanwhile:Pakistan Thursday summoned a top Indian diplomat to convey Islamabad's concern over recent violations of its airspace by Indian fighter jets, the foreign ministry said.
Pakistan has said that Indian air force planes "inadvertently" violated its airspace last week, flying over the Pakistani-administered part of Kashmir and the eastern city of Lahore.
The banned militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba -- which India blames for last month's deadly attacks on Mumbai -- is known to be active in both areas.
"The Indian deputy high commissioner (deputy ambassador) was called into the foreign office today and a diplomatic note was handed over to him," the Pakistani ministry said in a statement.
The note conveyed the "concern of the government of Pakistan on technical and airspace violations by Indian aircraft on December 12 and 13 in non-conformity with a bilateral agreement".
Islamabad said it had confirmed the airspace violations with New Delhi, but a spokesman for the Indian air force denied the allegations.
Relations between the nuclear-armed South Asian states have deteriorated in the wake of the Mumbai attacks, which left 172 people dead.