Pakistan s former dictator Pervez Musharraf who faces treason charges told a news channel that he is the biggest supporter of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and its founder Hafiz Saeed. Hafiz Saeed who was released from house arrest in Lahore is the founder of LeT and also the chief of Jammat-ud-Dawa (JuD). Speaking to Pakistan s ARY News Musharraf said I am the biggest supporter of LeT and I know they like me and JuD also likes me. ALSO READ With promised comeback to Pakistan Pervez Musharraf forms grand alliance He also said that he likes Hafiz Saeed and have met him. In May 2008 the United States Department of the Treasury designated Saeed as Terrorist and the Jamat- ud-Dawah (JuD) was declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the United States in June 2014. Musharraf also said that he was in favour of action in Kashmir. I was always in favour of action in Kashmir and of supporting Indian Army in Kashmir. They are the biggest force (LeT) India got them declared as terrorist by partnering with the US he said. Musharraf also said that they (LeT) is involved in Kashmir and in Kashmir it is between us (Pakistan) and India. ALSO READ Remembering 26/11: Hafiz Saeed s release shows Pakistan not serious about bringing perpetrators to justice Since he left Pakistan in March 2016 Musharraf is staying in Dubai. He faces several charges including treason for abrogating the Constitution and declaring the emergency in 2007.
NEW DELHI: Former military dictator of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf said this week that he is banned terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba s (LeT) biggest supporter and that he s aware they like him too. When asked by Pakistan s AryTV if he s similarly appreciative of LeT s founder and mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks Hafiz Saeed Musharraf nodded saying Saeed is involved in Kashmir and he supports that involvement. Saeed a United Nations-designated terrorist was freed from house arrest last week on an order from the Lahore high court. Musharraf meanwhile was declared a fugitive from justice by Pakistan in August this year. I am the biggest supporter of LeT and I know they like me and JuD (Jamaat-ud-Dawa) also likes me said Musharraf referring to both groups founded by Saeed. JuD is the LeT s charitable wing. The US has also branded Saeed a terrorist and put a 10 million bounty on Saeed s head after the 2008 Mumbai terror attack. Musharraf claimed Saeed was not involved in the Mumbai terror attack in 2008 because Saeed himself denied the charges of being the attacks mastermind. Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf stirred fresh controversy by saying that he loves LeT and that the LeT l... https://t.co/1UkJyLlgjq TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) 1511925163000 The LeT is banned in Pakistan since 2002 and it was in fact the Musharraf government that banned the group. When reminded of that fact Musharraf said he didn t know much about Saeed at the time. He implied that he wouldn t have banned LeT if he had known more about Saeed. We had banned LeT because the situation was different at that time. We were moving towards peace and as such I thought we should reduce mujahids (religious warrior) and increase political dialogue and frankly I had very less knowledge about him said Musharraf. LeT though banned it is widely believed to orchestrate attacks in India especially in Kashmir. For Musharraf that makes Saeed a-ok. I was always in favor of action in Kashmir and of suppressing the Indian Army in Kashmir and they (LeT) are the biggest force. India got them declared as terrorists by partnering with US said Musharraf. The former military dictator was also reminded that he calls himself a liberal and a moderate. The interviewer wondered if that was at odds with Musharraf s admiration for LeT. He said it isn t. Yes I am liberal and moderate... these are my thoughts but that doesn t mean I am against all religious leaders said Musharraf. This kind of hypocrisy is typical of Pakistan s establishment. On the one hand you will have Pakistan s foreign minister saying on a public forum that Saeed is a liability for Pakistan - like minister Khawaja Asif did in New York in September - and on the other you have the country s army and its intelligence agency providing safe havens for terror groups and terrorists. Which is why the president of an infuential US think tank said this week it s a mystery why Pakistan is still considered a major non-Nato ally . Richard Haass president of the prestigious think tank Council on Foreign Relations tweeted this week saying Pakistan has harbored terrorists for years and provides sanctuary to the Taliban and others including Saeed The Council on Foreign Relations president joins what s becoming a chorus of influential domestic voices asking that Pakistan s status as a major non-Nato ally be taken away. After Saeed was freed last week a top American counter-terrorism expert told PTI news agency that it s time to remove Pakistan non-Nato ally status. Nine years after 26/11 its mastermind still eludes justice. It is time to rescind Pakistan s status as a major non-NATO ally said Bruce Riedel a top U.S. expert on security South Asia and counter-terrorism. Saeed s release by the Lahore High Court came despite entreaties by a senior Pakistan finance ministry official who said that freeing Saeed would bring diplomatic and financial problems to the country reported Pakistan s Dawn newspaper. Those entreaties obviously fell on willingly deaf ears as the emboldened Lahore High Court even ignored the US administration s August threat to cut off all aid to Pakistan if it doesn t stop providing safe havens to agents of chaos and terror . The US hasn t really followed up with stringent punishment since those fighting words in August from US President Donald Trump. In fact a significant alteration to a bill that would have pinned Pakistan down on the Saeed-founded and banned organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was watered down last week in its final iteration. The US Congress decided against including action against terror group LeT as a condition to reimburse Pakistan for its cooperation in the war on terror . In September the version of the bill passed by the US Senate said Pakistan must show it has taken steps to demonstrate its commitment to prevent the Haqqani Network and Lashkar-e- Taiba from using any Pakistan territory as a haven and for fundraising and recruiting efforts . Now Pakistan must only show it has acted against the Afghanistan-oriented Haqqani Network (no relation the Haqqani cited in this article) and not the India-focussed LeT.
Just days after his 10 month-long house arrest came to an end Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief and 26/11 attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed has petitioned the United Nations to remove his name from its global terrorist list The Times of India reported on Tuesday.According to Hindustan Times Saeed s petition was routed through Mirza and Mirza a Lahore-based law firm. I cannot give details of the petition. I don t have the permission of my client to speak on this Barrister Haider Rasul Mirza who is Saeed s counsel at the UN told Hindustan Times.Saeed s UN petition comes after the Pakistan government decided against detaining him further in any other terror-related case. Punjab province s Judicial Review Board comprising judges of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday unanimously ordered Saeed s release after he completed his detention period.Since 31 January Saeed had been under house arrest along with his four close aides Abdullah Ubaid Malik Zafar Iqbal Abdul Rehman Abid and Qazi Kashif Hussain under the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 and the Fourth Schedule of Anti-Terrorism Act 1997.While the initial detention was only for a period of 90 days the government continued to extend the detention period under the public safety law .The UN had designated Saeed a terrorist after the 26 Novermber 2008 attacks in Mumbai which killed 166 people. The organisation had designated him a terrorist under UNSC resolution 1267 while the United States Department of the Treasury designated Saeed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under Executive Order 13224 in May 2008.File image of JuD chief Hafiz Saeed. ReutersWhat is Hafiz Saeed listed for?The UNSC designated Saeed a terrorist for his collaboration with the Al-Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Taiba which he founded in the 1990s. Notably the LeT the group behind the 26/11 attacks was designated a terrorist outfit under UNSC resolution 1267 in May 2005.Jamaat-ud-Dawah which is headed by Saeed has often been accused of being a front organisation of the LeT.In the words of the United Nations Security Council: Hafiz Muhammad Saeed was listed on 10 December 2008 pursuant to paragraphs one and two of resolution 1822 (2008) as being associated with Lashkar-e-Taiba and Al Qaida for participating in the financing planning facilitating preparing or perpetrating of acts of activities by in conjunction with under the name of on behalf or in support of both entities. Resolution 1822 which the security council statement referred to a resolution adopted in 2008 which denounced terrorism and reaffirmed the various sanctions on the individuals and organisations in the terror list.Who can delist themselves and how?Any member-state of the United Nations is eligible to send a request to seek delisting of individuals or entities in the terror list. Additionally the proscribed individual and institution can also send a request directly or through a representative.The individual or organisation has to appeal to the office of ombudsman at the UNSC. According to the UNSC any request must state why the delisitng will not work. The applicant also needs to reveal his or her present work profile as well as other information such as assets.According to Hindustan Times it may take at least six months for the application to be adjudicated. If the Committee approves a delisting request the Secretariat shall notify the Permanent Mission of the State or States where the individual or entity is believed to be located and in the case of individuals the country of which the person is a national or resident the UNSC website states.If the delisting process has been routed through the ombudsman then it will remove the name after a fixed period of time unless there is opposition from any member of the 15-member Al Qaeda sanctions committee or if the matter is taken to the five-member UNSC.Here is a list of people who have been delisted earlierThere have been 79 applications for delisting of proscribed individuals or organisations since 2010.According to the ombudsman 78 applications have either been accepted or awaiting final approval while one case filed on 27 March 2017 is still in the fact finding phase.Since 2010 most of the requests for delisting have been approved by the ombudsman 56 out of 78. Only 17 requests have been denied so far.In September 2010 Safet Ekrem Durguti a Bosnian national who headed the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation became the first to be removed from the UN terror list. The Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation was accussed by the UN of collecting funds for Al-Qaeda and other Islamist groups.Another individual involved with the foundation Tunisian national Shafiq ben Mohamed ben Mohamed Al-Ayadi was delisted in 2011 after he submitted a request to the ombudsman.The last successful application was that of Adil Muhammad Mahmud Abd al-Khaliq a Bahrainian national who was arrested in the UAE for alleged terror financing links. He applied for delisting in November 2016 which was granted in August this year.India US react to Saeed s releaseThe day Pakistan s judicial board released Saeed from house arrest the US had asked the Islamabad government to make sure that Saeed is re-arrested and charged for his crimes. The United States is deeply concerned that Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) leader Hafiz Saeed has been released from house arrest in Pakistan. LeT is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organisation responsible for the death of hundreds of innocent civilians in terrorist attacks including a number of American citizens state department spokesperson Heather Nauert said. The Pakistani government should make sure that he is arrested and charged for his crimes Nauert said in a statement after the release of the Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief.Ministry of External Affairs said Saeed s release confirmed once again the lack of seriousness by the Pakistan government in bringing to justice perpetrators of terrorism including individuals and entities designated by the UN. It also appears to be an attempt by the Pakistani system to mainstream proscribed terrorists. Pakistan has not changed its policy of shielding and supporting non-state actors and its true face is visible for all to see MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar had said and further added His release confirms once again the lack of seriousness on the part of the Pakistan government. It seems to be an attempt by the Pakistani system to mainstream proscribed terrorists. With inputs from PTI
By: Express News Service | Ahmedabad | Updated: November 29 2017 3:34 am Ravi Shankar Prasad in Ahmedabad. (Express Photo: Javed Raja) Related News Gujarat elections Live Updates: Action packed day in Saurashtra as PM Modi Rahul Hardik to address ralliesPolice form human chain to avoid PAAS protests at Rupala s Surat meetingsGujarat elections: PM Narendra Modi Rahul Gandhi Hardik Patel in Saurashtra todayA day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the Congress of celebrating the release of alleged 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday cited a 2010 media report stating Rahul Gandhi had told the then US ambassador Timothy Roemer that Hindu extremist groups were a greater threat than Lashkar-e-Taiba. The Guardian citing a WikiLeaks cable in 2010 had reported that Rahul at a lunch in 2009 warned Roemer that though there was evidence of some support for (Lashkar-e-Taiba) among certain elements in India s indigenous Muslim community the bigger threat may be the growth of radicalised Hindu groups which create religious tensions and political confrontations with the Muslim community . Citing this report Prasad the Union Minister for Law and Justice asked the Congress vice-president to explain just how dangerous and serious was the threat of Hindu terror when compared with the LeT. Questioning Rahul s understanding of the issue of terrorism Prasad said Today ISIS (Islamic State) is a big challenge to all countries except India. The BJP leader made these statements a day after the Prime Minister at an election rally in Bhuj said that recently a Pakistani court released a terrorist. I cannot understand why Congress people are clapping. He echoed Modi s criticism of Rahul for questioning the veracity of the surgical strikes. It was a joke on the bravery of our forces Prasad said. 300 companies of central forces for Gujarat polls New Delhi: Over 30 000 personnel of the central armed forces such as the CRPF and BSF along with nearly 60 000 personnel from state police are likely to be deployed for the upcoming Gujarat elections said officials . Around 300 companies of central armed police forces each comprising 100 personnel are being made available to the Election Commission for deployment in election duties. ENS For all the latest Elections News download Indian Express App More Related News Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi makeover: Citizens take note of restraint with outreach to all For causing Sholay scare in Surat dacoits arrested Gabbar rides away Tags: Gujarat Assembly Elections 2017
Union minister for law and justice Ravi Shankar Prasad came down heavily on Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and questioned whether he was on the side of militant outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba. Talking with mediapersons at BJP media centre in Ahmedabad on Tuesday Prasad said When US senator Hillary Clinton visited India in 2010 Gandhi the then general secretary of Congress had said during his discussion with US ambassador in India Timothy Romer that Hindu Terrorism was more lethal here than the LeT in presence of the then PM Manmohan Singh. Prasad said I ask Rahul Gandhi whether he is supporting LeT or is against Hindus. This irresponsible statement exposes his understanding of the worldwide problem of terrorism. Pointing at the then CM Narendra Modi Rahul Gandhi told Romer that BJP had been spreading anarchy in entire India. He claimed Former PM Manmohan Singh had accepted that India was involved in terror activities in Baluchistan of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) which was a shocker for India s anti-terror policy. It was a very shameful statement during exchange of information on terror activities with former Pakistan PM Yusuf Gilani in 2009 at Sharm-El-Sheikh in Egypt. All political parties in India had condemned this statement of Singh. Now Congress must reply to people of nation on this. The Union minister added that PM Narendra Modi in his address to nation on August 15 2016 received compliments from people of POK and succeeded to expose terror activities sponsored by Pakistan in POK before the entire world. He further said that Modi proved his mettle through surgical strike and with the cooperation of Jammu and Kashmir police Indian Army could kill 202 terrorists and six commandants of different terror outfits in the current year. VERBAL SPAT Prasad said I ask Rahul Gandhi whether he is supporting LeT or is against Hindus. This irresponsible statement exposes his understanding of the worldwide problem.
By: Express News Service | New Delhi | Published: November 29 2017 12:59 am Related News Last case in Delhi: Court gives clean chit to LeT bomb expert TundaJ&K: 3 LeT militants killed in Bandipore encounterLeT terrorist Naveed asks for warm clothes in jailThe NIA has arrested a man from Varanasi on suspicion of being a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative and for allegedly carrying out reconnaissance on behalf of the terror outfit. The arrested person identified as Abdul Nayeem Sheikh was arrested recently it is learnt. An officer said some photographs and maps were recovered from him and claimed that he has carried out reconnaissance of some vital installations including Army camps and power projects. The accused is learnt to be a resident of Aurangabad Maharashtra and was reportedly on the radar of intelligence agencies for the past few months. Sheikh has visited various places across the country in the past few months and had been in touch with an LeT handler according to a source. The officer said that Sheikh had visited Kashmir recently and carried out reconnaissance of an Army camp and a hydro-electric project there. He had also allegedly visited Kasol in Himachal Pradesh. The agency suspects the visit may have been part of a plan to harm Jews as the hill station is very popular among Israeli nationals. The accused was being interrogated by NIA and Intelligence Bureau to get leads on his associates and handlers a source said. For all the latest India News download Indian Express App More Related News BSF warns of LeT-IS joint strikes in Valley New LeT commander from Pakistan has already entered Valley: Police Tags: Lashkar e Toiba
Photo Hafiz Muhammad Saeed greeted supporters Wednesday after he was released from house arrest by a court in Lahore Pakistan. Credit Rahat Dar/European Pressphoto Agency ISLAMABAD Pakistan A Pakistani court has ordered the full release of Hafiz Muhammad Saeed the founder of the Islamist militant group that carried out the deadly 2008 Mumbai attacks 10 months after the government placed him under house arrest his lawyer said.The move will free Mr. Saeed to participate more directly in Pakistan s politics. And at a time when the United States has been pushing Pakistan to do better in curbing militants it presents another example of how the most extremist voices in the country seem to be moving more into the mainstream.Mr. Saeed had long been one of the most-wanted militant leaders in the region but he had been living in the open in Pakistan for years despite a 10 million American bounty on him. India in particular has criticized Pakistan for not bringing him to justice after the militant group he founded Lashkar-e-Taiba killed 166 people in the Mumbai attacks.But to many Pakistanis Mr. Saeed is a hero: the architect of a long militant campaign to fight India in Kashmir and a prominent voice for fundamentalist Islam. Some love how he has mocked efforts by the United States to capture him and he drew large crowds as he continued to lead public gatherings especially in his home city Lahore. Advertisement Continue reading the main story The Pakistani government long ago formally banned Lashkar-e-Taiba which was widely listed as a terrorist group. But Pakistan had made few public advances against Mr. Saeed even after he founded a charity Jamaat-ud-Dawa that is openly considered a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba and that recently began moving into political campaigning. Continue reading the main story
A Pakistani court has ordered the release of Hafiz Saeed an alleged mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks in a move likely to worsen the country s tattered relationship with the US. The Islamist cleric who heads Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) listed by the UN as a terrorist group and has a 10m( 7.5m) US bounty on his head is expected to be freed on Friday after less than a year in detention. Saeed thanked the judges of Lahore s high court in a video statement. The lawyers of the court supported me tremendously and I am so thankful to God for that he said. This is a great step for freedom for Pakistan. The US and India suspect Saeed of masterminding the attacks in Mumbai in which 10 gunmen ran rampage over several days killing 166 people. He was put under house arrest in January this year having lived in the open for years. On Wednesday the court in Lahore rejected a request from the provincial government of Punjab for a 60-day extension to his house arrest. A prosecutor Sattar Sahil told Reuters: His previous detention for 30 days is over which means he would be released tomorrow. Government officials argued that prolonging Saeed s detention was necessary to avoid international sanctions and a halt to foreign funding to the country. Saeed denies involvement in terrorism and claims the government punished him to pander to the whims of the US and India. Members of JuD say it is a charity organisation but the US says it is a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba an anti-India jihadi group that Saeed helped found in the 1990s. Until he was detained in January along with four aides under the country s anti-terrorism legislation Saeed s freedom was a source of friction between Washington and Islamabad. But the courts were inevitably bound to set him free at some point said Cyril Almeida a columnist and assistant editor at the Dawn newspaper. More significant measures were needed to repair trust between the US and Pakistan he said. Band-aid solutions such as temporary detention orders may buy some time but it only delays a final reckoning. On groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba Pakistan and the US are on a collision course Almeida said. After Barack Obama failed to persuade Pakistan to clamp down on militants plotting attacks on Afghanistan and India from inside its borders Donald Trump has taken a more aggressive stance. We can no longer be silent about Pakistan s safe havens for terrorist organisations Trump said when rolling out his policy for south Asia in August declaring that Pakistan would have much to lose if it did not comply. However Trump s sharp rhetoric was derided across the Pakistani political spectrum with officials scoffing at the apparent lack of acknowledgement for their country s sacrifices. In recent months Pakistan appears to have taken small steps to appease the US. Its armed forces conducted a successful operation to free a Canadian-American family from Taliban captivity in the tribal areas and it seems to have silently consented to the US upping drone strikes on its territory which reportedly have killed several prominent militants. Meanwhile the government has banned Lashkar-e Taiba and recently rebuffed attempts by a party affiliated with Jamaat-ud-Dawa to register in local elections in Lahore and Peshawar. Still followers of Saeed rallied openly in the streets in support of purportedly independent candidates who did relatively well in both cities. Jamaat-ud-Dawa also vies for popular support outside the ballot box providing disaster relief and health services in places where the state is largely absent and leading the charge for Kashmiri independence. I am fighting for the cause of Kashmir which is why India is after me Saeed said on Wednesday. But we shall be successful. Additional reporting by Nosheen Abbas
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