'Arrest and charge Global Terrorist Hafiz Saeed' : US tells Pakistan, uphold India's stand
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Washington, November 24: Upholding India's stand on the release of Jama'at-ud-Da'wah Chief and Mumbai attack planner Hafiz Saeed, the United States has called for Pakistan to arrest and charge recently freed Islamist leader Hafiz Saeed. House arrest of the mastermind of 26/11 Mumbai attack was ended this week by a court.
The official statement by the US State Department says that the US is deeply concerned that Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) leader Hafiz Saeed has been released from house arrest in Pakistan. Strongly reacting to 26/11 Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed release from house arrest directed by Pakistani Court, the Ministry of External Affairs MEA had said ‘Pakistan's lack of seriousness and termed it as an "attempt by Pakistani system to mainstream proscribed terrorists.”
The statement says: In May 2008, the United States Department of the Treasury designated Saeed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under Executive Order 13224. Saeed was also individually designated by the United Nations under UNSCR 1267 in December 2008 following the November 2008 Mumbai attack in which 166 people, including six American citizens, were killed.
The US statement stresses that the LeT and several of its front organizations, leaders, and operatives remain under both State Department and Treasury Department sanctions. Since 2012, the United States has offered a U.S. $10 million rewards for information that brings Saeed to justice.
Saeed's house arrest began in January. Saeed carries a $10m (£7.5m) US bounty, had been under house arrest in the city of Lahore since January. A Pakistan court this week ordered his release, rejecting the government's arguments that he was a threat to public safety.