AuM's goal is to liberate the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir through an armed struggle and merge it with Pakistan. The group has had the support of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence since the 1980s, during the early years of terrorist violence in Jammu and Kashmir, when the ISI perceived the AuM as a key group.  More recently, the ISI reportedly appointed Zargar as the "chief coordinator' of attacks on candidates and political parties on the eve of the 2000 elections.

<a href="terrorist_organizations_by_country.asp?id=AF">Afghanistan</a>, <a href="terrorist_organizations_by_country.asp?id=IN">India</a>, <a href="terrorist_organizations_by_country.asp?id=LY">Libya</a>, <a href="terrorist_organizations_by_country.asp?id=PK">Pakistan</a>, <a href="terrorist_organizations_by_country.asp?id=SY">Syria</a>

Khan (Afghan Security Agency); RAW (Indian Research and Analytical Wing)

Al-Zulfikar was formed in 1977 by Mir Murtaza Bhutto, the eldest son of former Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was deposed by a military coup in July and arrested on murder charges in September of that year.  The elder Bhutto was convicted and hanged by a military tribunal in April 1979.  Al-Zulfikar's goal was to overthrow the military regime that ousted Bhutto; the regime was headed by General Zia ul-Haq.  Al-Zulfikar was funded by the security agencies of both Afghanistan and India, both of whom were opposed to the Zia regime.<br /><P><br />The organization's most famous attack was the hijacking in March of 1981 of a Pakistan International Airlines plane from Karachi to Kabul.  The incident was rumored to be linked to the assassination of Zahoorul Hasan Bhopali, a Zia aide and chairman of the Tehrik-e-Istekham-E-Pakistan Council.<br />

Al-Zulfikar did not claim any terrorist attacks after 1981 but its leader, Mir Murtaza Bhutto, re-entered Pakistani in 1993 from his exile in Syria.  He returned to Pakistan later in that year and was released from jail after a brief detention.  After internal conflicts in the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), headed by Murtaza's older sister Benazir, Murtaza was executed by Pakistani police in 1996 outside of his Karachi home.<br /><P><br />Former members of al-Zulfakir have recently been suspected of involvement in Pakistani organized crime.<br />