Hafiz Saeed dubs Sartaj Aziz's India visit as 'disgrace to Pakistan'

Hafiz Saeed criticised Pakistani government for sending Sartaj Aziz to India to attend a conference. He said it brought disgrace to the country. Aziz was in Amritsar on Dec 3 to attend Heart of Asia.

Islamabad, Dec 16: Pakistan's foreign policy chief Sartaj Aziz's visit to India brought "disgrace to Pakistan and Kashmir", terrorist leader Hafiz Saeed has said. Aziz had visited India on December 3 to attend Heart of Asia conference in Amritsar.

Speaking at a conference in Muzaffarabad, the Jammat-ud-Dawah chief said that sending the Prime Minister's adviser to Amritsar for the Heart of Asia meet was a "wrong decision of the (Pakistani) government". Kashmiri terrorist Syed Sal­ah­­uddin, Jamaat-i-Islami leader Liaquat Baloch and several militant and religious leaders took part in the Muzaffarabad conference.

Saeed said his organisation could prepare a detailed briefing on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir for Aziz. He said Pakistan and Kashmiris would have to accomplish the task of liberating Jammu and Kashmir themselves.

In his speech, Salahuddin rejected Indian claims that the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI was active in Jammu and Kashmir "using the names of Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-i-Muhammad and Harkatul Mujahideen".

Saeed's Jammat-ud-Dawah operates mainly from Pakistan and has sanctions placed against it as a terrorist organisation by the United Nations. In April 2012, the United States announced a bounty of $10 million on Saeed, for his alleged role in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

For many years, India has demanded that Saeed be handed over to face trial in the Indian courts. He features in the list of most wanted fugitives, published by India in 2011.

(With IANS inputs)