Pakistan extends house arrest of Hafiz Saeed

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan extended by two months the house arrest of Hafiz Saeed, accused by the United States of masterminding 2008 attacks on the Indian financial capital of Mumbai that killed 166 people, a government document reviewed by Reuters showed.

Saeed was put under house arrest in January after years of living freely in Pakistan, one of the sore points in the country’s fraying relationship with the United States. His freedom had also infuriated Pakistan’ s archfoe, India. In a document marked “secret ”, the government of Pakistan’ s eastern province of Punjab said it was ordering the extension on the recommendations of the federal government and the interior ministry in Islamabad.

Yahya Mujahid, spokesman for Saeed’s Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD), confirmed that he was among five members of the group given an extended term of house arrest.

The Counter Terrorism Department believes Saeed’ s supporters plan to “spread chaos in the country” and stage demonstrations to project Saeed as a hero, Punjab’ s home department said. REUTERS