Weapons licences of Saeed, aides cancelled

lahore — The government has cancelled the licenses of 44 weapons issued to Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed and other members of his organisations, citing security reasons.

An official of the Punjab Home Department said the step has been taken in line with the government’s action against Saeed and his organisations — the JuD and the Falaha-e-Insanyat Foundation (FIF).

“The Punjab Home Department cancelled licences of 44 weapons for security reasons,” the official told PTI on Tuesday.

The government on January 30 had put Saeed and four other leaders of his organisations under house arrest in Lahore for 90 days. Saeed and 37 members of JuD and FIF have also been placed on the Exit Control List, barring them from leaving the country.

According to the Punjab Home Department notification, “Both JuD and FIF are engaged in certain activities which could be prejudicial to peace and security and in violation of Pakistan’s obligations to the United Nations Security Council Resolution and both organisations have been placed in the Second Schedule of AntiTerrorism Act 1997.”

“Hafiz Saeed, Abdullah Ubaid, Zafar Iqbal, Abdul Rehman Abid and Kashif Niazi are engaged in certain activities which could be prejudicial to peace and security.”

The federal government has also put JuD and FIF on the watch list for six months.

Earlier, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had said Hafiz Saeed can pose a “serious threat” to the nation, and was thus placed under house arrest in the country’s “larger interest”.

“Saeed can pose a serious threat to the society,” Asif told the audience at the Munich Security Conference on Sunday, The Nation reported. Saeed was “arrested in the larger interest of the country”, he added, according to the report. — PTI