New Delhi, Oct 17: Describing as "a major development" the US move to declare Dawood Ibrahim as a "global terrorist", Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani today said it had vindicated India's stand and the facts were now before the whole world. "Though Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf had denied Dawood's existence in his country or that Islamabad had granted him asylum, now, after the US decision, the facts are before the whole world," Advani told reporters here.
"It is a major development from our point of view. The full implications of the development are being examined. I have spoken to the external affairs ministry in this regard," he said. Advani said, "We had an idea that the US Treasury Department was thinking in this direction and from our side, ever since Musharraf came here, we have been pursuing this issue."
He said there were people who said Musharraf had a "negative attitude" towards the Dawood issue when he came to attend the Agra summit. This was because India had been raising the issue "in a very strong manner". The Treasury Department declared the Mumbai underworld don, based in Karachi with Pakistani passport, as a "global terrorist", saying he has links with al-Qaeda and is financing activities of Lashkar-e-Toiba and other Islamic extremists to destablise the Indian government.
Washington will now be requesting the United Nations to list him as a global terrorist, thereby making it obligatory on the part of all member states, including Pakistan, to take similar action. Bureau Report