UN confirms Hafiz Saeed serving 78-Year jail term in Pakistan
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The United Nations has confirmed that Hafiz Saeed, the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba and wanted in India for the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, is currently incarcerated in Pakistan, serving a 78-year prison sentence resulting from convictions in seven terror financing cases.
According to the United Nations Security Council, Saeed, also leading the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, a Lashkar-e-Taiba front, has been in detention since February 12, 2020.
India had previously requested the Pakistani government to extradite Saeed to face trial in India. The Ministry of External Affairs emphasised his involvement in multiple cases and highlighted his designation as a terrorist by the United Nations.
Saeed's imprisonment traces back to 2019, stemming from various charges related to terror financing alongside other leaders of the proscribed terrorist group Jamaat-ud-Dawa, linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba. Additionally, he carries the designation of a United Nations-designated terrorist, with a bounty of $10 million on his head.
The United Nations Security Council underscored Saeed's pivotal role in operational and fundraising activities for Lashkar-e-Taiba.
The accusations against him include establishing Lashkar-e-Taiba camps within Pakistan, orchestrating the infiltration of militants into Iraq, and coordinating the deployment of a militant operative to Europe as the group's European fundraising coordinator.