JuD chief Hafiz Saeed placed under house arrest in Pakistan

Lahore [Pakistan], Jan. 30 (ANI): Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed has been put under house arrest along with four others including Abdullah Ubaid, Zafar Iqbal, Abdur Rehman Abid and Qazi Kashif Niaz. According to Geo New, Ministry of Interior, a couple of days ago, had included names of aforementioned masses in the Watch List as per UNSC 1267 Sanctions. A notification by the ministry said that the Ministry of Interior has "placed Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) and Jamaat-Ud-Dawa (JUD) on the Watch List and have listed these organizations in the Second Schedule of the ATA 1997 (as amended)." "Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, Abdullah Ubaid, Zafar Iqbal, Abdur Rehman Abid and Qazi Kashif Niaz are reportedly active members of the aforementioned organizations within the meaning of Section 11EEE(1) of the ATA 1997 (as amended). As such, they must be placed under preventive detention." The notification also asks the Home Secretary to "kindly direct the concerned agencies to move and take necessary action" as the matter "is most urgent". Earlier today newspaper reports revealed that the United States has warned Pakistan to declare JuD as defunct else face sanctions. The group is most likely to be banned and its leadership will be arrested. According to some other reports, the United States assistant secretary of state in his meeting with Jalil Abbbas Jilani, Pakistani High Commissioner to the US, on January 11 this year raised the issue in the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG)'s latest report. Reportedly, in the latest APG report, some key objections were raised regarding the activities and the financial traffic of JuD. The same were presented before High Commissioner Jalil Abbas Jilani. Saeed has been put under house arrest at the Qadisiyyah Mosque near Chouburji, Lahore. He is wanted by India and the United States for his alleged role in masterminding the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai that claimed 166 lives. He even carries a bounty of 10 million USD (approx. Rs 66 crore) on his head for his role in the attack. Pakistan claims to have banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), but following the attack on the Indian Parliament in 2002, it re-emerged as Jamaat-ud Dawa (JuD). The United States has designated the JuD as a front for the LeT. (ANI)