No US 'official communication' on bounty for Hafiz Saeed:Malik

Islamabad, Apr 3: Pakistan has not received any "official communication" from the US about the USD 10 million bounty offered for Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said today.

"I have learnt from the media that a bounty has been offered for his head. Basically, we have not received any official communication from the US or any other quarter," Malik told a TV news channel this evening.

He said he had requested the Foreign Ministry to verify the report about the US bounty. "Till there is verification, there is nothing that I can say officially," he said in response to a question on whether the government intended to act against Saeed after the announcement of the bounty under the US Rewards for Justice programme.

Malik said he could not comment on the basis of media reports. "Let's see if it is confirmed, then we can ask them (the US) why this bounty was offered," he said.

The procedure in such matters is for information to be sent through "diplomatic channels or the Interpol", Malik said. "We have not seen any communication through official channels (or) diplomatic channels. So I will still insist that we should wait for the official communication," he added.

Malik's remarks were the first official reaction to the bounty offered for Saeed, who now heads the Jamaat-ud-Dawah. Saeed, accused of masterminding the 2008 Mumbai attacks, was included by the US among the five most wanted terrorist leaders.

PTI