Lashkar-e-Tayiba chief and 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed, who has a $10 million US bounty on his head, has said that he moves about like an "ordinary person" in Pakistan and his fate is not in the hands of America.
On the eve of the Indo-Pak foreign secretary-level talks, Pakistan on Wednesday said that India's demand for handing over of Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, should not be bracketed with the parleys as it would be 'counter-productive.'
India has provided Pakistan further details about involvement of Jamaat-ud-Dawaa chief Hafiz Saeed in Mumbai terror attacks on the basis of disclosures made by Pakistani-American Lashker operative David Headley and made it clear that action against him and other handlers would be a major confidence building measure.
Jamaat-ud-Dawaa chief Hafiz Saeed, the alleged mastermind of the Mumbai terror attack, on Wednesday claimed that he has never known Ajmal Kasab, the lone terrorist arrested that night. "I never saw him. In fact, it was from the media in India that I discovered he was a Pakistani national," Saeed said in a rare interview to Qatar-based Al Jazeera news channel in Lahore."I have never met Kasab nor have I ever known him and I have said this on many occasions," he said.
A court in New Delhi on Tuesday granted two-hour custody parole to Kashmiri leader Sheikh Abdul Rashid to take oath as a Lok Sabha MP on July 5.
India has made a fresh demand in a reply to Pakistan's request to send 24 Indian witnesses to record their statements in the case
Pakistani authorities have decided not to arrest Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief and 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed on the basis of new dossiers from India claiming that they do not contain "actionable intelligence", according to a media report.
The sentencing of Saeed came just four days ahead of a meeting of global anti-terror watchdog Financial Action Task Force in Paris to review Pakistan's compliance of an action plan prescribed by it to contain terror groups in the country.
Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front leader Yasin Malik sharing a dais with Lashkar-e-Tayiba chief and Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed in Pakistan Monday created a flutter in this country and led to a demand for cancelling his Indian passport.
Pakistan on Tuesday expressed disappointment over India's reaction to the Lahore high court quashing cases registered under the anti-terror law against 26/11 mastermind and Lashkar-e-Tayiba founder Hafiz Saeed, saying that questioning decisions made by the country's independent judiciary was "not a wise step".
The United States would push Pakistan for securing the conviction of Hafiz Saeed, the Mumbai attack mastermind, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Monday, adding that country has not done as much as US and India wanted it to fight terrorism.
Hafiz Abdul Salam Bhuttavi, an United Nations-designated terrorist who trained the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) attackers for the 2008 Mumbai terror attack and acted as the outfit's chief on at least two occasions, died in a prison in Pakistan's Punjab province while serving a sentence for terror financing, his aide said on Wednesday.
Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed and Lashkar-e-Taiba's operations commander Zaki-ur- Rahman Lakhvi were running their terror groups while still in custody in Pakistan following the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, said US diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks.
India is expected to seek voice samples of Lashkar-e-Tayiba founder Hafiz Saeed and other handlers of 26/11 attackers during the visit of Home Minister P Chidambaram to Islamabad later this month.
Questioning Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front chairman Yasin Malik's recent decision to share the stage with Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, in Islamabad, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader Ram Madhav on Tuesday said the Centre should take due note of this act and take very strong measures to send a message to him and persons of his ilk.
Banned terror outfit Jamaat-ud-Dawa has officially condemned the United States' announcement of a 10 million dollar bounty on its chief Hafiz Saeed, calling it "another attack by the American government on Muslims and Islam".
Stating that prosecution of "some individuals" of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba by Pakistan was "not enough," India on Wednesday demanded "severe action" against Hafiz Saeed, mastermind of Mumbai attacks, so that he does not remain a free man to incite more violence against the country.
India on Monday termed as "internal matter" the Pakistan Supreme Court rejecting petitions challenging the release of Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed, a key accused in the Mumbai terror attack, but said it will closely monitor the case.
The United States has made it clear that a $10 million bounty on Hafiz Saeed was primarily due to his key role in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks and said it wants to bring to book the Lashkar-e-Tayiba founder who has been brazenly flouting the justice system.
India believes that Lashkar-e-Tayiba founder Hafiz Saeed was with 26/11 key handler Abu Jundal in the control room set up in Pakistan with some kind of 'state support', Home Minister P Chidambaram said on New Delhi.
The NIA, which has been on the trail of American terror operative David Coleman Headley, had been hoping to piece together the terror jig-saw by gaining independent access to Lashkar-e-Tayiba founder Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed, who are alleged to have masterminded the Mumbai carnage.
The US on Wednesday shared India's concern about the terrorist threat that could emanate from Pakistan and sought prosecution of seven suspects of the Mumbai attacks, including its mastermind and Lashkar-e-Tayiba founder Hafiz Saeed.
"We are going to wage jihad (war) against India to get our rivers freed," Saeed said while addressing a gathering of JuD workers in Sialokot district of Punjab Province on Friday.
A Pakistani court on Thursday sought a "fresh and comprehensive" response from the foreign ministry to a petition by Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief and Lashkar-e-Tayiba founder Hafiz Saeed asking it to direct the government to defend him in a United States lawsuit filed by relatives of victims of the 26/11 attacks.
26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed may become an ugly fly in the soup at the lunch meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday. But senior Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir hopes that the two leaders will focus instead on smaller issues like Siachen, Kori Creek and water
Earlier, Patra compared the Opposition to 26/11 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed.
The Defa-e-Pakistan Council, a grouping of 40 radical groups cobbled together by LeT founder Hafiz Saeed, has warned that it will not allow even food supplies for NATO forces in Afghanistan to pass through the country.
He was sent to judicial custody on May 9 and lodged in Tihar jail after his custodial interrogation by the NIA.
The National Investigation Agency told a Delhi court on Tuesday that the complicity of Pakistan-based Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed and other five terror suspects was not confined to 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, as they had conspired to plot such attacks in other parts of the country as well.
India should declare Hafiz Saeed as a proclaimed and absconding offender in the case and offer a huge reward to anyone who could help in his capture and prosecution before the Mumbai court, says B Raman
As Hafiz Saeed openly made fun of Washington over announcing a bounty on a man who moved freely across Pakistan, Munter, who is known for his conciliatory approach, decided to pacify the JuD chief in a one-on-one meeting in Islamabad which was kept secret and which is still not being confirmed officially by either side, reports Amir Mir from Islamabad
Terrorism figured prominently during Singh's 40-minute one-on-one meeting with Zardari at the Prime Minister's Race Course road residence.
Hafiz Talha Saeed is a senior leader of the LeT and is the head of the cleric wing of the terrorist organisation.
Protesting the closure of its chief Hafiz Saeed's official Twitter account, the Jamaat-ud-Dawah has alleged that the micro-blogging website took the step to oblige India.
The Opposition in the Pakistan Punjab assembly on Tuesday staged a walkout to protest against Saeed's detention.
Mounting pressure on the Modi government to act against journalist Ved Pratap Vaidik for meeting 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed, Bharatiya Janata Party ally Shiv Sena on Wednesday said the Centre cannot just shrug off its responsibility in the matter.
Kirby's remark comes a day after Saeed had reportedly said that the United States is the real enemy of Pakistan.
Tahawwur Hussain Rana, the key mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, is being interrogated for eight to ten hours daily by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to unravel a larger conspiracy behind the strikes. Rana, who was extradited from the US, is being grilled by NIA investigators to probe a larger conspiracy behind the attacks, in which 166 people were killed and over 238 injured. He is being allowed to meet his lawyer and is being provided with basic necessities. The investigators hope to find some important leads on his travels in parts of northern and southern India days before the carnage in Mumbai on November 26, 2008.
The White House press secretary said LeT is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organisation responsible for the deaths of hundreds of innocent civilians in terrorist attacks, including a number of American citizens.
The country's enemies, like Dawood Ibrahim and LeT chief Hafiz Saeed, should not believe that India is not "thinking" anything about them, Union minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore said.
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