Al-Qaeda not in Pota list

new delhi: this is one glaring omission. osama bin laden''s al-qaeda does not figure in the list of terrorist organisations in the newly passed prevention of terrorist act (pota). the act was recently passed by a joint session of parliament. incidentally, al-qaeda did not figure in the earlier prevention of terrorist ordinance (poto) either. the absence of al-qaeda, one of the most dangerous terror outfits in the world, is surprising since pota mentions organisations such as the babbar khalsa international and khalistan commando force, which are almost extinct.the home ministry officially refused to comment on the omission. however, ministry officials admitted off the record that the absence could hamper investigations, if terrorists with purported links to the al-qaeda were arrested. ``while the government has the powers to include or delete names of terrorists organisations mentioned in the act, it will definitely make for speedy progress in investigations, if the said terrorist organisation is already mentioned in the act,'''' said a senior home ministry official. a case in point is mohammed afroz, who was arrested in mumbai and released later due to lack of evidence, the official said. afroz was released by the maharashtra police on the day poto became an act. afroz was reported to have confessed to the police about his links with al-qaeda. legal experts too pointed out that while the exclusion of al-qaeda did not dilute the act in any way, it was incumbent on the government to ensure that the terrorist outfit was included in the act to help investigations. ``it will just need a statute for the government to include the outfit and the sooner it is done the better,'''' says senior supreme court advocate k t s tulsi. the exclusion of al-qaeda notwithstanding, the act mentions 25 outfits operating in and out of the country. they include lashkar-e-taiba, harkat-ul-mujahideen, jaish-e-mohammad and the students islamic federation of india as terrorist organisations. the list also has some unheard of names like peoples revolutionary party of kangleipak, kangleipak communist party, kangleipak yoal kanbalup and all tripura tiger force. ultra leftists organisations like the communist party of india (marxist-leninist), the peoples war group (all its formations and front organisations) and the maoist communist centre (all its formations and front organisations) have also been named in pota as terrorist outfits.