Re-arrest, try Hafiz for crimes: US to Pak

Smita Sharma

Tribune News Service 

New Delhi, November 24

The United States today condemned the release of Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed from house arrest and asked Pakistan to ensure that the mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks was arrested again and charged for his crimes.

Expressing “deep concern” over the Lahore High Court Judicial Review Board’s release order, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said, “Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) is a designated foreign terrorist organisation responsible for the death of hundreds of innocent civilians, including a number of American citizens, in terrorist attacks.” 

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Saeed is a ‘specially designated global terrorist’ under executive order 13224 of the US Treasury Department since May 2008. In 2012, the US Justice Department announced a $10 million reward for actionable evidence against Saeed. However, LeT was recently de-linked from the Congressional certification process for providing aid to Pakistan. Saeed’s detention was considered a damage-control move under pressure from the Donald Trump administration. 

New Delhi, meanwhile, has termed Saeed’s utterances after his release as “re-articulation of the agenda of terrorists”. Saeed said he would gather people for the “cause of Kashmir”.