Home Latest News Hafiz Saeed Arrested Once Again

Hafiz Saeed Arrested Once Again

by AFP

Sajjad Qayyum—AFP

Head of banned Lashkar-e-Taiba taken into custody while traveling to apply for bail in another case

Authorities on Wednesday detained the alleged mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, a Pakistani security official said, as the country faces increased pressure to crack down on militants operating on its soil.

Firebrand cleric Hafiz Saeed—declared a global terrorist by the U.S. and U.N., and who has a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head—was taken into custody following a raid by counter-terrorism forces in Gujranwala. “Hafiz Saeed was going to Gujranwala to apply for bail in another case when he was arrested,” said a security official with knowledge of the arrest on the condition of anonymity.

A spokesman for Saeed’s group, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, a wing of the militant Lashkar-e-Taiba, confirmed the arrest to AFP, but gave no further details.

Another security official said the arrest relates to terror financing charges.

Saeed has spent years rotating in and out of varying forms of detention, sometimes under house arrest, sometimes briefly arrested then released again by authorities. But for the most part he has been free to move at will around Pakistan, enraging India which has repeatedly called for his prosecution over his alleged role in the 2008 attack that killed more than 160 people.

Lashkar-e-Taiba is accused by India and Washington of masterminding the four-day assault on Mumbai. Saeed has denied involvement.

The move against Saeed comes as Pakistan is facing a potential blacklisting by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)—an anti-money-laundering monitor based in Paris—for failing to do enough to combat terror financing. FATF is set rule on its fate in the coming months after placing the country on a watchlist last year.

In February, Pakistani authorities banned Saeed’s Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation—charities that have long been considered fronts for militant activity targeting India.

Washington and New Delhi have long urged Pakistan to take action against Taiba, which was banned by Islamabad in 2002 but re-branded itself as Dawa and FIF. And earlier this year, Pakistan arrested more than 100 suspected militants and shuttered hundreds of religious schools.

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