Pak govt trying to please US, India: Saeed
Mastermind behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks Hafiz Saeed on Thursday said that he would challenge the Pakistan government's decision of a crackdown on his two charities, adding that the government was trying to please America and India by "taking extreme action against us".
"After detaining me for 10 months without any legal ground, the government has now issued a notification regarding taking over our schools, dispensaries, ambulances and other assets. It will hamper our relief operations in Punjab, Balochistan, Sindh, Azad Kashmir and northern areas," Moneycontrol quoted Saeed as saying.
Pakistan on Wednesday banned two charities linked to Hafiz Saeed, reports ANI.
Pakistan's interior ministry issued a notification against the Saeed-founded Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) charity, as well as its associated organisation, the Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF), Al Jazeera reported.
"As per the instructions, we have already started taking over all the facilities, offices, schools, dispensaries and seminaries which belong to the JuD and FIF," Al Jazeera quoted Rana Sanaullah, law minister for Punjab province, as saying.
Saeed, who is the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), was designated a "terrorist" by the United Nations (UN) and had a USD 10 millionbounty placed on him by the United States in 2012.
Pakistan banned the LeT but allowed its charity wings to continue operating. That included 300 seminaries and schools, hospitals, a publishing house and ambulance services.