Britain's unsurprising decision

London's Metropolitan police have announced closing the money laundering case against MQM supremo Altaf Hussain saying "there is not a realistic prospect of a successful prosecution under the UK law, therefore the investigation is not complete and no further action will be taken." Disappointing as it is the decision not to pursue the case is not surprising. Altaf Hussain with his control over much of urban Sindh has long been treated by the British government as an asset to be exploited for its own purposes. No wonder it has taken forever for Britain's otherwise thoroughly professional and efficient police to make any progress in the Dr Farooq murder case or the other complaints against the MQM leader of creating violence in this country's commercial capital.

It may be recalled that during their investigations into the murder case, London's Metropolitan Police had seized from Altaf Hussian's residence over £500,000 in cash - leading to initiation of the now dropped money laundering case - as well as a shopping list of sophisticated weapons and their prices. It is obvious where those weapons were to be used. A particularly shocking aspect of the case is Indian involvement in sponsoring violence in this country. As per Scotland Yard's leaked documents, in interviews with the police two MQM leaders had acknowledged having been in contact with RAW and Altaf Hussain receiving money from India. Given that the London police never disowned the documents and the scandalous revelations they contained, there could not be a more "realistic prospect of a successful prosecution under the UK law" than the confessions of MQM's own men made, they said, "voluntarily". In fact, the Indian connection turned out to be a 'realistic reason' for the British government to stop prosecution in its tracks. In a piece he wrote last month for a Pakistani newspaper, respected British journalist, Owen Bennett-Jones, while predicting what has now happened, pointed out that after MQM men's statements before the police admitting that some of their funding came from India helped the MQM chief. And that Indian officials, realising that the statements could be used as evidence of their country's funding of terrorists before a British court, exposing New Delhi's involvement in violence in Karachi, made it clear that pursuance of the case would be unacceptable. No wonder Altaf Hussain has been given a clean chit in the money laundering case, and the confiscated cash may also be returned to him.

Had Pakistan been involved in such activity, by now London would have declared its intelligence agency a sponsor of terrorism and together with India would be moving heaven and earth to slap punitive measures against the country. But India is too important for Britain due to economic and political reasons. In bringing such a clear case involving money laundering and terrorism to a close the British government has amply demonstrated that when it comes to dealing with other countries, political considerations override the famed British respect for law as well as concerns about terrorism.