SPY EYES

Hafiz Saeed’s open mocking of the bounty on him has made the US clarify that it wants the Lashkar-e-Taiba founder prosecuted and jailed; that the 10-million-dollar bounty it announced is not for information about Saeed’s location, but for information that will lead to his arrest or conviction.

Hafiz Saeed, who is seen as the mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks in 2008, is a free man and a public figure in Pakistan, and he held a press conference yesterday to underscore that, defying the US’ announcement on Monday of a reward on his head as a most-wanted terrorist.

Saeed held his press conference at a hotel close to the Pakistan army’s headquarters in Rawalpindi and said: “If the United States wants to contact me, I am present, they can contact me.” He also said that, “I am also ready to face any American court, or wherever there is proof against me.”

Quickly the US state department issued a statement that it was actually looking for that evidence that could be used in court to link Saeed to the 26 /11 Mumbai attacks.

“Just to clarify, the $10 million is for information that – not about his location, but information that leads to an arrest or conviction. And this is information that could withstand judicial scrutiny, so I think what’s important here is we’re not seeking this guy’s location. We all know where he is. Every journalist in Pakistan and in the region knows how to find him. But we’re looking for information that can be usable to convict him in a court of law,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner said when asked about Saeed’s public appearance.

On Wednesday, the Pakistan Foreign Ministry reiterated what it has said often to India – that it needs “concrete evidence” before the Pakistani government will move to arrest Saeed. Hafiz Saeed has been on India’s most-wanted list since 2008, but every time it has demanded that Pakistan take action against him, the neighbour has pulled out its stock reply.

Mr Toner said, “What we’re looking for, which is people to step forward that can provide that kind of evidence that the Pakistanis can then arrest this individual and try him.”

Mr Toner denied that the United States was putting pressure on Pakistan at a time when relations between the two countries have been at an all-time low. “It’s not to put pressure on any one government. But we wanted to be able to provide Pakistan with the tools that they need to prosecute this individual,” he said.

The US announcement of a bounty raised many eyebrows; the US has faced criticism from all quarters, with experts asking what it hoped to achieve by declaring a bounty for a man who is not in hiding.

Source: NDTV