Hafiz Saeed's Jamaat-ud-Dawa launches political party in Pakistan

Pakistan placed Hafiz Saeed under house arrest earlier this year

AP/PTI  |  Islamabad 

Hafiz Saeed
In this April 3, 2012, file photo, Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, chief of Jamaat-ud-Dawwa and founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba talks with the Associated Press in Islamabad, Pakistan. Photo: PTI

Pakistan's banned militant group Jamaat-ud-Dawa is seeking to enter the political sphere by launching a new party.

Saifullah Khalid, a religious scholar and longtime official of the group, is president of the newly-formed party.


He told reporters in Islamabad today that his party will work to make "a real Islamic and welfare state" and that it's ready to cooperate with like-minded parties.

The has offered a $10 million rewards information leading to the arrest and conviction of JuD's founder placed him under house arrest earlier this year.

The JuD widely is believed to be a front for Lashkar-e- Taiba, the militant group behind the 2008 deadly attacks in Mumbai, India.