06 September 2004	Monday	20 Rajab 1425

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NEW DELHI, Sept 5: Indian Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav accused Hindutva leader Lal Krishan Advani on Sunday of being an international fugitive who was wanted in Pakistan for a plot to assassinate the Quaid-i-Azam.

Mr Yadav, a confirmed foe of the rightwing Hindu Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (National Volunteer Corps) of which Mr Advani is a member, stopped short of asking him to surrender.

Addressing a news conference in Patna, Mr Yadav said Pakistan's allegation that the former deputy prime minister was an accused in a case of conspiracy to kill its founding father, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, made Mr Advani as much a criminal as the so-called tainted ministers he was targeting in the Congress-led government.

"Advani is an accused in a conspiracy case to kill Jinnah. He is an international absconder," Mr Yadav alleged. "This fact is very much available on internet. Anybody can have access to it," he claimed and asked Mr Advani to explain his position on the issue.

"Advani and the National Democratic Alliance who are making a hue and cry over removal of so-called tainted ministers in the Manmohan Singh cabinet should look into their own record before levelling charges against others. They themselves are not clean," Mr Yadav said.