Pakistan court orders release of ex-LeT chief Hafiz

Islamabad, Aug 28: Former chief of the banned Islamic outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) Hafiz Saeed was today ordered released by the Lahore High Court, which declared his detention as ''illegal''.

Judge Akhtar Shabir ruled on a petition filed by Hafiz Saeed's wife that he could not be kept under detention in the absence of any case against him.

He was expected to be released sometime today, almost two weeks after his detention at his Lahore residence.

Saeed, who now heads Jamatud Da'awa (JD), the parent organisation of LeT, had been placed under house arrest without citing any reasons. Foreign ministry spokesperson Tasneem Aslam said in Islamabad on August 15 that he was detained because of some statements, considered not to be in the public interest.

The LeT, which introduced in late 1990s the concept of Fidayeen or suicide attacks to hit Indian civilian and army targets in the troubled state of Kashmir was also among the six militant and extremist outfits, which President General Pervez Musharraf banned in January 2002 as part of his government drive against terrorism and extremism.

The Indian government often blamed the defunct LeT for its involvement in the militant activities in Kashmir.

The organisation came under criticism especially after London bombings and suicide attacks in Ayodhya last year.

The future of the ongoing composite dialogue process between the two countries also became uncertain after serial bombings in Mumbai last month, which forced India to postpone the dialogue process.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told a press conference in New Delhi days after the bombings that they had support of the elements from across the border.

UNI