LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Tuesday sought a reply from the federal government on a petition of Jamatud Dawa chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, seeking directions for the government to defend him as a citizen of Pakistan before a US court, which issued summons to him, the ISI chief and other officials on a law suit filed by relatives of US nationals killed in the Mumbai attacks.
Justice Umar Ata Bandial directed a deputy attorney general to appear before the court on March 29 after obtaining reply from the government. US nationals Rabbi Gabriel Noah Holtzberg and his wife Rivka were killed by militants in the Mumbai attacks. Their son Moshe, who was saved in the incident, along with other persons filed nine claims against the banned outfit, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) of Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, Azam Cheema, Sajid Majid, the ISI, its former chief Nadeem Taj, the agency’s incumbent head Lt-Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha and two people, Major Iqbal and Major Sameer Ali, who were allegedly a part of the ISI. They were accused of providing material support for the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. For each of the claims, the plaintiffs have sought damages of US dollars 75,000.
Hafiz Saeed, through his counsel A.K Dogar, pleaded in the petition that he was the head of Jamatud Dawa, a charitable organisation, and had no link with LeT. He said the government had detained him in 2009 and a LHC bench had issued orders to release him, observing there was no evidence that he (Saeed) had any links with al-Qaeda or any terrorist organisation. The News
Justice Umar Ata Bandial directed a deputy attorney general to appear before the court on March 29 after obtaining reply from the government. US nationals Rabbi Gabriel Noah Holtzberg and his wife Rivka were killed by militants in the Mumbai attacks. Their son Moshe, who was saved in the incident, along with other persons filed nine claims against the banned outfit, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) of Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, Azam Cheema, Sajid Majid, the ISI, its former chief Nadeem Taj, the agency’s incumbent head Lt-Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha and two people, Major Iqbal and Major Sameer Ali, who were allegedly a part of the ISI. They were accused of providing material support for the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. For each of the claims, the plaintiffs have sought damages of US dollars 75,000.
Hafiz Saeed, through his counsel A.K Dogar, pleaded in the petition that he was the head of Jamatud Dawa, a charitable organisation, and had no link with LeT. He said the government had detained him in 2009 and a LHC bench had issued orders to release him, observing there was no evidence that he (Saeed) had any links with al-Qaeda or any terrorist organisation. The News
