Pakistan frees former leader of outlawed Islamic guerrilla group

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Posted 8:33AM on Monday, April 1, 2002

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - The former leader of the outlawed militant Islamic group that was accused by India of a deadly attack on its Parliament was freed Monday after nearly three months in detention, a close aide said. Hafiz Mohammed Saeed was taken into custody in December amid intense pressure from the United States and India following the attack that killed 14 people. A court asked for his release after the government failed to charge him with anything. The Dec. 13 attack on India's Parliament triggered the deployment of hundreds of thousands of Indian troops along its border with Pakistan, and an official demand for Islamabad to stop supporting Muslim guerillas in Kashmir. Pakistan responded by sending hundreds of thousands of its own troops to the border to match the Indian buildup. India refuses to reduce the number of troops at the border until Pakistan withdrawals its support for Muslim guerrillas, particularly those active in the disputed Kashmir region. While Pakistan has said it is ready for talks at any time, it also continues to give political and diplomatic support to Kashmiri secessionists. India may consider Saeed's release a further snub. Saeed quit Lashkar-e-Tayyaba or Army of Medina before President Gen. Pervez Musharraf banned it in January, along with four other militant Islamic groups. Saeed's spokesman, Yahya Mujahid, said his release is proof that all accusations of extremism and terrorism are false. "The government should not detain patriotic Pakistanis and followers of Islam over the pressure of foreign countries," Mujahid said. Saeed now leads a non-militant group called Jamaat-ad Dawa Pakistan, or Party of Preachers, which aims to spread the word of Islam, Mujahid said. Lashkar-e-Tayyaba is one of the main guerrilla groups fighting to end Indian rule in Kashmir. Since Musharraf's ban, the group said it has shut down all operations in Pakistan and now confines its activities to the disputed Himalayan region. India has accused Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, another militant group called Jaish-e-Mohammed or Army of Mohammed and the Pakistani spy agency for the Parliament attack. Pakistan and the two groups deny involvement. The leader of Jaish-e-Mohammed, Maulana Masood Azhar, remains in custody. Kashmir has been the cause of two wars between Pakistan and India since they gained independence from Britain in 1947. Pakistan wants a vote in Kashmir in line with U.N. recommendations to decide whether its residents want to stay with Hindu-dominated India or merge with Islamic Pakistan. New Delhi rejects the proposal, calling the Muslim-majority Kashmir an integral part of India.