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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Pakistan releases 'top militant' | Pakistan releases 'top militant' |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| A Pakistani court has ordered the release of the leader of an Islamic charity suspected of being a front for a group accused of the Mumbai attacks. | A Pakistani court has ordered the release of the leader of an Islamic charity suspected of being a front for a group accused of the Mumbai attacks. |
| A court ruled there was no reason to hold Jamaat-ud-Dawa founder Hafiz Mohammad Saeed under house arrest. | A court ruled there was no reason to hold Jamaat-ud-Dawa founder Hafiz Mohammad Saeed under house arrest. |
| India accuses Jamaat-ud-Dawa of being a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba, the group it says was behind the attacks. Mr Saeed is also a founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba. | India accuses Jamaat-ud-Dawa of being a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba, the group it says was behind the attacks. Mr Saeed is also a founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba. |
| The UN added Mr Saeed to a terrorist watch list after the Mumbai attacks. | The UN added Mr Saeed to a terrorist watch list after the Mumbai attacks. |
| A spokesman for Jamaat-ud-Dawa told the BBC that they were always confident that Mr Saeed would be vindicated. | A spokesman for Jamaat-ud-Dawa told the BBC that they were always confident that Mr Saeed would be vindicated. |
| "Our stand is clear. We have nothing to do with militancy or militants," he said. | "Our stand is clear. We have nothing to do with militancy or militants," he said. |
| But even though the court had ordered his release, the spokesman advised caution as to exactly when and how this might happen. | But even though the court had ordered his release, the spokesman advised caution as to exactly when and how this might happen. |
| "I don't think the government is going to let it go so easily, and even if they do release Hafiz Sahib, they can always re-arrest him on some other concocted charge," he said. | "I don't think the government is going to let it go so easily, and even if they do release Hafiz Sahib, they can always re-arrest him on some other concocted charge," he said. |
| Mr Saeed was placed under house arrest in December after the UN added him to a list of people and groups linked to al-Qaeda or the Taliban. | |
| Mumbai denial | |
| His release is likely to alarm the United States and India. | |
| This is not the first time that Mr Saeed has been placed under house arrest following militant attacks in India only to be subsequently released. | |
| The BBC's Chris Morris in Islamabad says that India is likely to express its concern about Pakistan's commitment to tackling militancy. But, he adds, that Pakistan would point out that the decision to release Mr Saeed was made by an independent court. | The BBC's Chris Morris in Islamabad says that India is likely to express its concern about Pakistan's commitment to tackling militancy. But, he adds, that Pakistan would point out that the decision to release Mr Saeed was made by an independent court. |
| In an interview with the BBC just before being placed under house arrest in December, Mr Saeed denied any connection with the Mumbai (Bombay) attacks. | |
| But the Indian authorities say there is evidence to show that they were planned and financed by Lashkar-e-Taiba in Pakistan. Mr Saeed has been named on the official charge sheet in connection with the Mumbai attacks. | |
| Founded in the late 1980s, Lashkar-e-Taiba is one of most feared groups fighting against Indian control in Kashmir. After it was banned in Pakistan in 2002, the organisation divided itself into Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Lashkar-e-Taiba, correspondents say. | |
| Mr Saeed is at the helm of Jamaat-ud-Dawa which works as an Islamic charity all over Pakistan. |