Pakistani group slams US reward for Hafiz Saeed
A Pakistani group Tuesday slammed the $10 million US reward for information leading to the capture of Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed, the alleged mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, saying it is an “attack on Islam and Muslims.”
The US Rewards for Justice website described Hafiz Saeed as the founding member of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, a radical Islamist organisation dedicated to installing Islamist rule over parts of India and Pakistan, and its military branch, Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Saeed is suspected of masterminding numerous terrorist attacks, including the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people, including six American citizens.
In response to the US announcement, Yayha Mujahid, spokesman of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, said Hafiz Saeed is not hiding anywhere and is freely addressing public rallies in Pakistan.
He said the US offered rewards for Hafiz Saeed’s arrest because he has been campaigning against the possible restoration of NATO supply lines and the US drone strikes in the country’s tribal regions, Xinhua reported.
He said the US officials had repeatedly made groundless statements against Hafiz Saeed and the US reward offer will not prevent him from his anti-US activities.
