Hafiz Saeed, Designated Terrorist With $10 Million Bounty, Released By Pakistani Court

The alleged mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks and the banned Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) chief, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, designated as a terrorist leader by the United Nations and the United States, was ordered to be released from detention Thursday by a Pakistani court in Lahore.

The Islamist cleric who has a $10 million bounty on his head, has been freed 10 months after the government had placed him under house arrest. He was under detention since January this year.

Despite the U.S. sanctions on Saeed, the cleric had been living freely in Pakistan and delivering anti-U.S. speeches. His actions have been a major irritant in Pakistan’s relations with the U.S., and a major source of sustained tensions with India.

Saeed was put under house arrest in January after years of living free in Pakistan. He was accused of directing the Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people and injured another 200 people. India accused Pakistan of sponsoring the attacks through the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which Saeed had founded in the 1990s.

A review Board of the Lahore High Court overruled the government’s request to extend the detention citing that Saeed’s release may trigger international sanctions against Pakistan.

Saeed's attorneys had been telling the court that his detention was unlawful and there was no proof of his involvement in terrorist activities.

On Wednesday the court in Lahore rejected a request from the provincial government of Punjab for a 60-day extension to his house arrest, but judges turned down the request. The court ruled the government could not produce sufficient evidence to justify his detention.

"The U.S. is aware of media reports that Pakistan (court) ordered release of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) leader Saeed from house arrest," a state department spokesperson was quoted by multiple reports.

The United States Department of the Treasury in 2008 had designated Saeed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, the spokesperson said according to reports.

Saeed was also individually designated by the United Nations under UNSCR 1267 (UN Security Council Resolution) in December 2008 following the Mumbai attacks in Nov. 2008.

According to members of the JuD, the organization is a charity group but the U.S. considers it a front for the Pakistan-based LeT militant group.

In an interview to the New York Times, JuD’s information secretary, Nadeem Awan said, "We are overjoyed to announce that after waiting for 10 long months, our chief will finally be free. There is a lot of celebration and happiness within our ranks, and we are proud that we have been able to get justice the legal way, through the courts."

According to the Guardian, Pakistan in recent months has taken small steps to appease the United States. The government has banned the LeT and recently refused attempts by a party affiliated with the JuD to register in local elections in Lahore and Peshawar.

Saeed said to the Guardian: "I am fighting for the cause of Kashmir, which is why India is after me. But we shall be successful."