PAK SC LETS 26/11 ARCHITECT HAFIZ SAEED’S JUD CARRY ON ACTIVITIES

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's Supreme Court has allowed Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed's Jamaat-ud-dawa (JUD) and Falah-i-insaniyat Foundation (FIF) to continue their activities in the country.

A two-member bench has rejected an appeal by the government against an interim order of the Lahore High Court on April 5 which had allowed the two groups to continue their welfare work. The high court had restrained the government from interfering with the social work of the two groups and also allowed their legal activities.

Earlier, the Pakistan government had banned companies and individuals from making donations to JUD, FIF, and other organisations on the UN Security Council sanctions list.

JUD chief Saeed termed the apex court verdict as a "victory of justice and truth".

Officials said Jud's network includes 300 seminaries and schools, hospitals, a publishing house and ambulance service. The two groups have about 50,000 volunteers and hundreds of other paid workers.

Saeed was listed under UN Security Council Resolution 1267 in December 2008. He was released from house arrest in Pakistan in November.

The JUD is believed to be the front organisation for the LET which is responsible for carrying out the Mumbai attack that killed 166 people. It has been declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in June 2014. The US Department of the Treasury has designated Saeed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, and the US, since 2012, has offered a USD 10 million reward for information that brings Saeed to justice.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has described the ISI as “our first line of defence” as he visited for the first time the headquarters of the powerful spy agency.

Khan, along with senior Cabinet ministers, were briefed on Wednesday in detail on the various strategic intelligence and national security matters by the senior officials of the Interservices Intelligence, an official statement said.

“The Prime Minister lauded contributions of the ISI towards national security especially in the ongoing counter terrorism effort. The Prime Minister said that the ISI is our first line of defence and stands out as best intelligence agency of the world,” the statement issued by the Inter-services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the military said. Khan, who was sworn-in as the 22nd Prime Minister on August 18, has already visited the General Headquarters of Pakistan Army twice first to get an indepth briefing on the internal security and geo-strategic situation and then to attend the Defence and Martyrs Day ceremony on September 6. Khan has been accused by his critics of being the security establishment's man. The Pakistan Muslim League-nawaz (PML-N) party has accused him of reaching the Prime Minister House through the support of the powerful security establishment.

Khan told ISI officials that his government and the people of Pakistan firmly stood behind the armed forces and intelligence agencies and acknowledged the “unprecedented achievements” of these institutions, the statement said.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Army-backed PM Imran Khan described ISI as ‘our first line of defence’ as he visited the powerful spy agency’s HQ for first time