Mumbai attacks suspect released
US ‘deeply concerned’ as Pakistan court frees suspected LeT militant with $10m bounty
Pakistani authorities acting on a court order released a US-wanted militant yesterday who allegedly founded a banned group linked to the 2008 Mumbai, India attack that killed 168 people, his spokesman and officials said.
Hafiz Saeed, who has been designated a terrorist by the US Justice Department and has a $10 million (Dh36 million) bounty on his head, was released before dawn after the court this week ended his detention in the eastern city of Lahore.
The move outraged the US and Indian authorities, but Saeed’s spokesman, Yahya Mujahid, confirmed his release, calling it a “victory of truth”.
‘Baseless allegations’
“Hafiz Saeed was under house arrest on baseless allegations and jail officials came to his home last night and told him that he is now free,” he said.
Saeed ran the Jamaat-udDawa organisation, widely believed to be a front for the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant group, which India believes was behind the deadly attack in Mumbai.
As expected, the US state department expressed deep concern over Saeed’s release from house arrest.
In a statement, the State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the LeT group was a designated foreign terrorist organisation responsible for the death of hundreds of innocent civilians in terrorist attacks, including a number of American citizens.
“The Pakistani government should make sure that he is arrested and charged for his crimes,” she said.
The US yesterday said it was “deeply concerned” after Pakistan freed one of the suspected masterminds of the 2008 Mumbai attacks despite months of pressure from Washington over militancy.
The statement came as Saeed, who heads the UN-listed terrorist group Jamaat-udDawa (JuD), led prayers and met with supporters in Lahore after his midnight release.
JuD, which has operated freely across Pakistan and is popular for its charity work, is considered by the US and India to be a front for LeT, the militant group blamed for the attack on India’s financial capital.
The $10 million bounty for Saeed first offered in 2012 still stands, Nauert added.
US State Department