Pakistan mum over action to be taken against Hafiz Saeed

Islamabad, Jan 11: Pakistan kept mum over what action it will take against Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed, but said it takes its "international obligations" very seriously.

Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal while replying to a question during his weekly briefing said Pakistan is serious to implement UN sanctions against listed individuals and groups including Saeed.

"As far as Hafiz Saeed is concerned, Pakistan takes its international obligations very seriously. We have been implementing the UN Security Council sanctions related to assets freeze, arms embargo and travel ban on all listed individuals and entities,'' he said.

The Foreign Office spokesman was asked about action being taken against the founder of the Lashkar-e-Taiba after a BBC report that he toured the UK in the 1990s to incite Muslims to become jihadis. A BBC investigation has said that Saeed, one of the world's most wanted terror suspects, who now heads the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) group in Pakistan, had toured British mosques in 1995 and his visit was recorded in a magazine published by the LeT at the time.

Pakistan has banned the collection of donations by the JuD, the front organisation of banned outfit Lashkar- e-Taiba, as well as several other such organisations named in a list of banned outfits by the UN Security Council. The decision was taken on January 1 when Trump accused Pakistan of giving nothing to the US but "lies and deceit" in return for USD 33 billion aid and said Islamabad has provided "safe haven" to terrorists.

Faisal also said that Pakistan is ready to talk on all outstanding issues with India, including Jammu and Kashmir but "nothing much can be done" as India is not ready for talks. "Pakistan has consistently maintained that the only way forward is through a comprehensive, result-oriented, uninterrupted, uninterruptible dialogue to resolve all outstanding issues. We are also ready to talk about the issue of terrorism, which is a global phenomenon, and calls for global and concerted action,'' he said To a question about India launching remote sensing satellite Cartosat-2 series along with 31 small satellites, he said all space technologies were inherently dual use and can be employed for both civilian and military purposes.

''All states have a legitimate right to pursue peaceful uses of space technologies. However, given the dual-use nature of such technologies, it is essential that such pursuits are not directed towards a buildup of destabilising military capabilities, which can negatively impact the regional strategic stability,'' he said.

PTI