Washington: US President Donald Trump Wednesday said the arrest of 2008 Mumbai terror attacks mastermind and JuD chief Hafiz Saeed by Pakistan was a result of “great pressure” exerted by his administration on Islamabad in the last two years.
Saeed, a UN designated terrorist whom the US has placed a USD 10 million bounty on, was arrested by the anti-terrorism authorities of the Punjab Province while he was going to Gujranwala from Lahore on Wednesday morning.
A Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) team intercepted him near Gujranwala city (some 80-km from Lahore) and arrested him on terror financing charges, a CTD said.
Saeed’s arrest comes just days ahead of Imran Khan’s maiden visit to the US and talks with President Trump who has previously admonished Pakistan for not doing enough to rein in terror groups operating from its soil.
“After a ten-year search, the so-called “mastermind” of the Mumbai Terror attacks has been arrested in Pakistan. Great pressure has been exerted over the last two years to find him!” said Trump who is scheduled to meet Khan at his Oval Office on July 22.
However, former Pakistan ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani contested Trump’s tweets and said that the official who gave the President such information should be fired.
“Found?? The man had been leading prayers in the largest cricket stadium of the country for years & riding horses to the national monument in Lahore, Pakistan,” tweeted columnist Mohammad Taqi.
Saeed has been arrested and released several times, usually just before high level visits by US officials to Pakistan or Pakistani officials to America, Haqqani said.
He was also detained soon after the 9/11 and the Mumbai attacks to appease the Americans. He has never been brought to trial and has been allowed to operate freely, including participation in last year’s elections, he said.
There is no evidence or reason to believe that things will be different this time around. Pakistan supports and protects anti-India militants as an instrument of policy and has shown no interest in giving it up, Haqqani said.
He said Pakistan’s generals and politicians from Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party have praised Saeed until recently. (PTI)
