A Pakistani court yesterday ordered the release of one of the alleged masterminds of the 2008 Mumbai attacks which killed more than 160 people, after months of US pressure on Islamabad over its alleged support for militants.
Firebrand cleric Hafiz Saeed, who heads the UN-listed terrorist group Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and has a $10mn US bounty on his head, will be freed tomorrow after less than a year in detention following the decision by the Lahore High Court, a JuD official said.
“The review board looking in to the case...has refused to extend his house arrest as the government failed to provide any evidence against the charges,” a spokesman for the party, Ahmed Nadeen said in Lahore.
JuD is popular for its charity work.
Analyst and retired Pakistani general Talat Masood told AFP that Saeed is given special treatment by the government “because they think that his organisation was supportive in Kashmir”.
Saeed said later in a video message that he was detained because of his association with Kashmir. “It’s because of Kashmir that India is after me, but all her efforts have been in vain and Allah has set me free,” he said in the video released by his party’s media team.
“This is victory of Pakistan’s freedom and God willing Kashmir will also be freed because I’m fighting Kashmir’s case,” Saeed added.
Masood said the government could seek new reasons to detain Saeed to avoid more international pressure, particularly from Washington, which has been pressuring Pakistan for months over its alleged support for militants including the Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan.
US President Donald Trump in August accused Pakistan of harbouring “agents of chaos”, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said last month that the Washington has made “very specific” requests of Pakistan over militancy.
Following a brief period of house arrest in 2008, Saeed led a high-profile public life and regularly delivered fiery anti-India speeches.
He was placed under house arrest once more in January this year following years of foreign pressure, prompting demonstrations in several Pakistani cities.  Masood said that his release could see him participate in a general election set to be held sometime next year, adding that if he won a seat in the national assembly that could be “very embarrassing internationally”.


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