Pakistani police arrest Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed
Jamaat-ud-Dawa, Lashkar-e-Taiba's humanitarian wing, says it will challenge the arrest of its head and apply for bail.
Islamabad, Pakistan - Pakistani police have arrested Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, the founder of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) armed group and head of its Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) humanitarian wing, intercepting him on his way to court in the central city of Gujranwala,
Saeed was arrested on Wednesday by a group of counterterrorism department police at the Kamoke toll plaza, about 50km north of Pakistan's second city Lahore, JuD spokesman Nadeem Awan told Al Jazeera.
"The cases against him are all related to fundraising," Awan said. "He is charged with terrorism financing."
Pakistan has been facing increasing pressure to crack down on armed groups operating on its soil since 2017, when it was placed on a watchlist by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a 39-member inter-governmental body that monitors curbs on terrorism financing and money laundering.
FATF will make a final adjudication on whether to blacklist Pakistan, a move that could isolate the country from the international economy, in October.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/...083300268.html
