03.04.2012
In increased pressure on Pakistan to act, the US has put Hafiz Saeed on its list of most wanted terrorists and has announced a reward of $10 million for the capture or information leading to the capture of the man believed to be the mastermind behind the 26/11 terror attacks, which left 173 people dead in Mumbai.
Saeed has been on India's list of most-wanted men for several years and was named a global terrorist in 2008. But the chief of the banned Jamaat-ud-Dawa and the founder of the Lashkar-e-Toiba roams free in neighbouring Pakistan, often holding big anti-India rallies.
India has repeatedly sought his arrest, but Pakistan has each time sought "actionable" and "substantive" evidence against him before it can act. Hafiz Saeed is believed to be a powerful figure in Pakistan and allegedly has close links with the army and the ISI. Ministers have been seen at public rallies that he has held in the Pakistan capital of Islamabad.
The US move to announce a bounty on Saeed was conveyed to Indian Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai by US Under-Secretary of Political Affairs Wendy Sherman, who is on her first tour of India. The reward announced puts Saeed at par with Taliban founder Mullah Omar, whom the US holds responsible for the 9/11 attacks of 2001. Both the Jamaat-ud-Dawa and the terror outfit Lashkar are blacklisted by the US. Among those who died in the Mumbai attacks of 2008, were six Americans.
Saeed has been on India's list of most-wanted men for several years and was named a global terrorist in 2008. But the chief of the banned Jamaat-ud-Dawa and the founder of the Lashkar-e-Toiba roams free in neighbouring Pakistan, often holding big anti-India rallies.
India has repeatedly sought his arrest, but Pakistan has each time sought "actionable" and "substantive" evidence against him before it can act. Hafiz Saeed is believed to be a powerful figure in Pakistan and allegedly has close links with the army and the ISI. Ministers have been seen at public rallies that he has held in the Pakistan capital of Islamabad.
The US move to announce a bounty on Saeed was conveyed to Indian Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai by US Under-Secretary of Political Affairs Wendy Sherman, who is on her first tour of India. The reward announced puts Saeed at par with Taliban founder Mullah Omar, whom the US holds responsible for the 9/11 attacks of 2001. Both the Jamaat-ud-Dawa and the terror outfit Lashkar are blacklisted by the US. Among those who died in the Mumbai attacks of 2008, were six Americans.
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