Hafiz Saeed and LeT are liabilities, admits Pakistan foreign minister
Speaking at a Question & Answer session at the Asia Society in New York, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif admitted that Saeed and the LeT are hurting Pakistan and that it has to amplify its efforts towards tackling terrorism.
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Pakistan's foreign minister has said that Hafiz Saeed, mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, and terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) are liabilities for Pakistan and the rest of South Asia, according to a Times of India report.
Speaking at a Question & Answer session at the Asia Society in New York, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif admitted that Saeed and the LeT are hurting Pakistan and that it has to amplify its efforts towards tackling terrorism. He also said that the country needs more time as it does not have the “assets” to do the job.WATCH NOW—Pakistan's Foreign Minister @KhawajaMAsif in conversation with @SteveCollNY https://t.co/3lboqfDcuU #AsiaSocietyLIVE
— Asia Society NY (@AsiaSocietyNY) September 26, 2017
Asif also stated that the United States government will have to share the blame for the rise of terrorist extremism in Pakistan in the past two decades.
He said that the support of Pakistan to the United States in its “proxy war” against the Soviets in the Afghanistan war of the 1980s contributed to Jihadist elements being nurtured by both countries.
According to Asif, this issue cannot be reversed overnight as the culture and ethos of such elements were deliberately developed at that point in time for winning the war. Asif even went on to say that Pakistan was being made a scapegoat for the failures of the United States in Afghanistan.
"Pakistan has stood firmly with the US during the war against the USSR in Afghanistan - which I personally believe was wrong, a proxy war - then we were used and discarded. In the 60s we were in your (US) camp, in the 70s and early 90s sanctions were imposed on us. Despite heartbreaks we still stood with the US," said Asif.
Meanwhile, Hafiz Saeed's house arrest has been extended by another month in Pakistan’s Punjab province, with authorities saying his activities pose a threat to the peace and tranquility in the country. Saeed, the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief, has been under house arrest since January 31 this year.
The Punjab Home Department on Tuesday issued an order extending the house arrest of Saeed and his four aides -Abdullah Ubaid, Malik Zafar Iqbal, Abdul Rehman Abid and Qazi Kashif Hussain – for another 30 days with effect from September 25. The previous order to extend his house arrest was issued on July 28.
On January 31, Saeed and four others were put under house arrest by the Punjab government for 90 days under the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997.
The Punjab Home Department stated in its order, “…Jamaat-ud-Dawah and Falah-e-Insaniat have planned to spread chaos in the country on their expected release. They have planned to make demonstrations under the leadership of Saeed. He will be portrayed as a hero and his acts will be glorified.”
The notification said that Abdul Rehman Makki, who is the central leader of the JuD, had been making preparations for his release
JuD is believed to be the front for the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) which is responsible for carrying out the 2008 Mumbai attacks. The organisation is accused of involvement in militant activities in India and has already been declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in 2014.
The US has offered a USD 10 million bounty for Saaed for his alleged role in the Mumbai attacks.
(With inputs from PTI)
