"Hafiz Saeed, who was released by Pakistan from house arrest last November resulting in angry reaction from the US, was the "mastermind" of the Mumbai terrorist attacks and is leader of Lashkar-e-Taiba," US State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert said. The US has concerns about terror group Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed running for office in Pakistan in 2018, a senior Trump Administration official has said.
The Jamaat-ud-Dawa or JuD head and Lashkar-e-Taiba founder had earlier confirmed that his organisation JuD will contest the 2018 general elections in Pakistan under the banner of the Milli Muslim League, which is yet to be registered with Pakistan's Election Commission.
"Hafiz Saeed, who was released by Pakistan from house arrest last November resulting in angry reaction from the US, was the "mastermind" of the Mumbai terrorist attacks and is leader of Lashkar-e-Taiba," US State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert said.
"It's a group that the US government considers to be a terror organisation. We have many conversations with the government of Pakistan. One of the things that happened recently was that this guy was held on house arrest. Pakistan released him from house arrest, and now there's word that he may be running for some sort of office," she said reporters in Washington.
Hafiz Saeed, who has a $10 million American bounty on his head for terror activities, was freed by Pakistan on November 24. He is a United Nations and US designated terrorist.
"I want to remind folks, we have a $10 million Reward for Justice programme that would reward for information that would bring him to justice. So I want to make that clear, so that everybody knows -- USD 10 million, out for this guy. And we would certainly have concerns about him running for office," Ms Nauert said.
The United States had also strongly condemned the release of the Lashkar-e-Taiba leader from house arrest and had called for his immediate re-arrest and prosecution. However, top Pakistani diplomats based in the US have claimed that there is no evidence against Hafiz Saeed.
"I can tell you his organisation that was responsible for those attacks is considered a foreign terror organisation. It's considered a foreign terror organisation by the US government for a reason, and for a good reason," Ms Nauert said.
"I would imagine that, if we had any intelligence, and that's not an area that I can discuss anyway, but we would certainly share it with the Pakistanis on that front. I hope they'll do the right thing," Ms Nauert said.
"I hope that they will do the right thing and remind folks across Pakistan, we have a $10 million reward for this guy," the spokesperson said.
The banned Jamaat-ud-Dawa terror group is the front organisation for the Lashkar-e-Taiba which carried out the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks in which 166 people were killed.
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