Islamabad - Pakistan's government on Monday appealed against
last month's court ruling that freed Hafiz Saeed, head of an Islamic
charity suspected of being a front for a group accused of the Mumbai
terrorist attacks, a Pakistani official said.
The radical cleric along with his associate was placed under house
arrest in December after the United Nations banned his charity,
Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), as a front for the terrorist organization
Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
The LeT is believed to be responsible for terrorist attacks in
November in the Indian financial hub of Mumbai, which killed more
than 170 people.
But the high court in eastern city of Lahore released him in early
June saying there were insufficient grounds to detain him.
Pakistan's Deputy Attorney General Shah Khawar told German Press
Agency dpa that the federal government and government of Punjab
Province have filed two separate appeals filed against the decision.
'I think we have enough evidence to stress our plea that Mr Hafiz
Saeed is a security threat and should be detained therefore,' Khwar
said.
India received the high court verdict with 'disappointment,' and
an Indian court last month issued an arrest warrant for Saeed for his
alleged involvement in the four-day gun-and-bomb attacks in Mumbai on
hotels, a cafe, hospital and Jewish centre.
Tensions escalated between the two nuclear-armed rivals after the
Mumbai attacks to the point where India suspended the 5-year-old
peace process aimed at easing relations and solving contentious
issues.
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