Resolution in UNSC against Hamid Gul blocked, say Pakistan PM

The Pakistan government has blocked a resolution moved in the UN Security Council for imposing sanctions against former Inter-Services-Intelligence chief retired Lieutenant General Hamid Gul over his alleged links with al-Qaeda and Taliban, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani [Images] said on Wednesday.

If any action is to be taken against Gul, it will be done under the Pakistani law, Gilani told reporters in his hometown of Multan.

"Soon after our government was formed, a resolution was moved in the Security Council but we got it put on hold," Gilani said.

Gul is a Pakistani citizen and he would not be handed over to the US, Gilani said. The resolution was never discussed and further steps would be taken by Pakistan if it was "no longer on hold", he added.

Gul, who served as chief of the ISI during 1987-89, has offered to "present himself for inquisition" before a UN commission to clear himself of charges that he has links to al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

Reports from Islamabad have said the US plans to send the names of Gul and three other Pakistanis, all said to be former top officers of the ISI, as well as some Pakistan-based terror groups to the UN Security Council for imposing sanctions against them for alleged links to terror activities.

Gul has said that he learnt about a purported US document in this regard from a journalist.

He has dismissed as a "pack of lies" the US charge of him having links with the Taliban and al-Qaeda and asked the Pakistan government to defend him.

If Gul's name is included in the UN's sanctions list, it would lead to freezing of his assets.