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US slams Pakistan after PM Abbasi says 'no case registered against Hafiz Saeed'

WION Web Team
Washington, DC, United StatesUpdated: Jan 19, 2018, 03:08 AM IST
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File photo of Hafiz Saeed. Photograph:(Reuters)

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Pakistan PM Shahid Abbasi during an interview to Geo TV had declared recently that 'there is no case against Hafiz Saeed in Pakistan.'

US state department spokesman Heather Nauert reacting to Pakistan PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi statement that "no case was registered against Hafiz Saeed" said the US believes Saeed was the mastermind behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Pakistan PM Shahid Abbasi during an interview to Geo TV had declared recently that "there is no case against Hafiz Saeed in Pakistan."  

"Only when there is a case can there be action," the Pakistan PM had added.

"We have made our points and concern to the Pakistan government very clear that he should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," Nauert said, adding that "we have raised all our point to the Pakistani government," Neuert said.

The state department spokesman said the US regarded Saeed as a "terrorist" who was part of a "foreign terrorist organisation" and the "mastermind behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks which killed many people, including Americans."

The  Jamaat- ud-Dawah (JuD) chief who was put under house arrest in early 2017 was recently released on court's order after the Pakistan government failed to convince the court on Saeed's arrest. It was widely condemned by several governments including the US and India.

The Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) is believed to be the front organisation for the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) which India alleges is responsible for carrying out the 26/11 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people. It was declared a "foreign terrorist organisation" by the US in June 2014.

"We believe that he should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. He is listed by the UNSC 1267, the al Qaida Sanctions Committee for targeted sanctions due to his affiliation with Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is a designated foreign terror organisation," the US state department spokesman said.