October 18, 2003	Saturday	Sha'aban 21, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 17: Pakistan on Friday denied that member of the Indian underworld Dawood Ibrahim is living in Karachi.

“He is neither a Pakistani citizen, nor does he live in Karachi,” Information minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said.

“If somebody is aware of his whereabouts, we will receive and act on that information,” the minister said while underlining that “the government has nothing to do with the people being identified as members of the underworld”.—dpa

Our Washington correspondent adds: The US Treasury Department on Friday declared Dawood Ibrahim a “specially-designated global terrorist.” The executive order requests the UN to list him as a terrorist as well.

The designation freezes any assets belonging to Dawood Ibrahim within the US and prohibits transactions with US nationals. The UN listing will require all UN member states to take similar actions.

US investigators have determined that Dawood Ibrahim has found common cause with Al Qaeda, sharing smuggling routes with the terror syndicate and funding attacks by extremists aimed at destabilizing the Indian government.

He is wanted in India for the 1993 Bombay Exchange bombings.