Civil-military leadership on same page regarding Hafiz Saeed’s arrest

It appears that with the new army leadership in place, things seem to be going in harmony between the army and civilian leadership in Pakistan. Early on Tuesday morning, Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed and four of his close aides, were placed under house arrest.

In a press conference held by the newly appointed Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor, it was elaborated that the decision to arrest Saeed was a ‘policy decision’, taken by the state in ‘national interest’.

DG-ISPR also clarified that this particular decision was taken by the state institutions in the best national interest and that the situation will further clear up in the coming few days.

Saeed is believed to be the main man behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks and his organization, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was blacklisted by the US following the attacks. Even though Saeed tried to distance himself from LeT and denied having anything to do with the Mumbai attacks, India and the US still believed him to be the mastermind.

Meanwhile, the government tried to justify Saeed’s arrest by citing JuD’s involvement in activities harmful to the peace and security of the country, as well as in violation of UN Security Council resolution 1267.

The council designated Saeed as a terrorist and his outfit as a terrorist organization in December 2008 following the Mumbai attacks. The US also subsequently blacklisted him and his organization, and placed $10 million bounty on his head.

While Saeed’s arrest shows that Pakistan is serious in rooting out terrorism from the country, the timing of the arrest raises many eyebrows. Many people believe that the government made this move to deflect pressure from the Trump regime and some also say that China also had a part to play in Saeed’s arrest.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=54425

Posted by fatimaarshad on Feb 1 2017. Filed under Latest News, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.