Pakistani court orders militant leader linked to Mumbai attacks released
(Read article summary)India criticized the decision to free Hafiz Saeed, founder of the banned group Lashkar-e-Taiba.
LAHORE, PAKISTAN – A Pakistani court’s decision to release the founder of a militant group that India blames for masterminding last November’s Mumbai attacks will strike a blow to already strained Indian-Pakistani relations, according to analysts.
The order to release Hafiz Saeed – head of banned outfit Jamat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) – from six months of house detention came Tuesday. It was met with cheers and cries of “God is great!” by dozens of his followers at the Lahore High Court.
“Praise be to God, we were granted justice,” Yahya Mujahid, a spokesman for the group told the Monitor.
India ‘unhappy’ at Saeed’s release
India saw things differently. Reacting to the news, Indian home minister P Chidambaram told reporters: “We are unhappy that Pakistan does not show the degree of seriousness and commitment that it should to bring to justice perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attack.”
