ISLAMABAD: Days after declaring himself the greatest supporter of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), former president Pervez Musharraf said that he is open to forming a political alliance with the proscribed group Jamaatud Dawa (JuD) and its chief Hafiz Saeed.

“If it is meant to be, it will be,” he told a TV channel.

“There have been no talks yet, but if they want to be included in the alliance, by all means I will welcome them.”

When asked about the possible international repercussions his statements in favour of the proscribed group could have for Pakistan, Musharraf said that “this is our country. We are aware of its internal situation, the people in it and if they are good or bad.”

He said he spoke about Hafiz Saeed and will say it proudly that LeT and JuD are both very good organisations of Pakistan. “In 2005, I saw that they were the best engineers. They did the best work at the time of the earthquake in Islamabad.”

Musharraf said they are not in favour of Al Qaeda or the Taliban.

“Why are we pushing them to the wall? They have religious followers, youngsters who are religious. They are not terrorists and we should tell this to America and the world.” The former president said that Saeed should be given credit for employing his followers in welfare organisations and preventing them from “taking up weapons and joining the Taliban.”

Musharraf’s comments in favour of LeT and JuD come in the wake of Saeed’s release from house arrest.

The US and India have shared their “deep concerns” with Pakistan over the release of the JuD chief, who carries a bounty of $10 million announced by Washington for his alleged role in terror activities.