PAKISTAN: Wanted in U.S. and India, Islamist Hafiz Saeed leads mass rally in Pakistan

Record ID: 214050

  • Title: PAKISTAN: Wanted in U.S. and India, Islamist Hafiz Saeed leads mass rally in Pakistan
  • Date: 6th September 2013
  • Summary: ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (SEPTEMBER 6, 2013) (REUTERS) ANTI-INDIAN PROTESTERS WALKING WITH CARS, GROUP OF VOLUNTEER SECURITY GUARDS DRESSED IN BLACK RUNNING IN RING AROUND VEHICLES INCLUDING TRUCK CARRYING PAKISTANI ISLAMIST WANTED BY U.S. AND INDIA, HAFIZ SAEED PROTESTERS WALKING IN FRONT OF SECURITY GUARDS SAEED WAVING FROM TRUCK PEOPLE WATCHING FROM BRIDGE PROTEST MOVING UNDERNEATH SAEED WAVING FROM TRUCK VARIOUS OF THOUSANDS OF PROTESTERS IN VEHICULAR CONVOY DRIVING TOWARDS CAMERA, WAVING BLACK AND WHITE STRIPED FLAGS VARIOUS OF SAEED WALKING TOWARDS MAKESHIFT STAGE, PROTECTED BY SUPPORTERS CROWD CHANTING: "ALLAH IS GREATEST", WAVING BLACK AND WHITE STRIPED FLAGS VARIOUS OF LEADERS OF DIFA-E-PAKISTAN COUNCIL' (DPC), HOLDING HANDS ON STAGE CROWD LISTENING TO ADDRESS, WAVING FLAGS CROWD BEING LED IN CHANTS CROWD CHANTING (Urdu): "ONLY ONE REMEDY FOR INDIA - JIHAD!" CROWD LISTENING TO ADDRESS, WAVING FLAGS SAEED STANDING PREPARING TO ADDRESS CROWD, SUPPORTERS CHANTING (Urdu): "THE STRUGGLE WILL GO ON TILL THE DESTRUCTION OF INDIA" (SOUNDBITE) (English) PAKISTANI ISLAMIST WANTED BY U.S. AND INDIA, HAFIZ SAEED, SAYING: "Is your solution that the Kashmir issue should be set aside so that bilateral trade does not suffer? If Kashmir is a bone of contention, that it should be thrown away so relations with India can become friendly? If this is your stance then listen my brother; we have come to tell you that, God willing, this is not going to happen. God willing, these people here will never let that happen." CROWD LISTENING TO ADDRESS, WAVING FLAGS (SOUNDBITE) (English) PAKISTANI ISLAMIST WANTED BY U.S. AND INDIA, HAFIZ SAEED, SAYING: "Mr. Nawaz Sharif, talk to the Taliban by all means. India has opened an office in Qatar with the Afghan Taliban and is pretending to be carrying on a dialogue with them. But we know exactly what is happening. We know that the world is being deceived under the guise of this dialogue. But your own country has problems that you should try to resolve first. Before talking to the Taliban, you should make it clear during the All Parties Conference on September 9 that the Indian Consulates in Afghanistan are spreading terrorism and violence. This should be made clear in the agenda of the conference." VARIOUS OF CROWD WAVING FLAGS LISTENING TO SONGS
  • Embargoed: 21st September 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Pakistan
  • Country: Pakistan
  • Topics: Conflict,International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA42EWQD2E1VB29LMJQBZDDSYSR
  • Story Text: A Pakistani Islamist with a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head appeared openly at a rally in Islamabad on Friday (September 6), denouncing India as a terrorist state as thousands of his supporters chanted for "holy war" against the rival nuclear nation.
    India has accused Hafiz Saeed of masterminding the 2008 attack on its financial capital Mumbai where gunmen killed 166 people over three days.
    The United States has offered $10 million for information leading to his arrest and conviction.
    As dusk fell, more than 10,000 people gathered in Islamabad at the rally marking Pakistan's Defence Day, in a show of defiance certain to enrage India further following weeks of tensions over the disputed Kashmir border.
    The rally was organised by the Defence of Pakistan Council, an alliance of 40 religious and political parties.
    Speaking from a makeshift stage mounted on a truck, Saeed criticised Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for trying to mend fences with India at the cost of ceding Kashmir to its larger neighbour.
    "Is your solution that the Kashmir issue should be set aside so that bilateral trade does not suffer? If Kashmir is a bone of contention, that it should be thrown away so relations with India can become friendly?" he said.
    "If this is your stance then listen my brother; we have come to tell you that, God willing, this is not going to happen. God willing, these people here will never let that happen," he told crowds.
    India has called on Pakistan to bring Saeed to justice, an issue that has stood in the way of rebuilding relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours since the Mumbai carnage.
    Saeed is the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a militant group banned in Pakistan but tolerated unofficially and believed to be close to the army. Saeed has long abandoned its leadership and is now the head of its charity wing.
    India is furious that Pakistan has not detained him since it handed over evidence against him to Islamabad, and allows Saeed to live freely in the city of Lahore in a villa with police stationed outside.
    Relations plunged to further lows last month after the killing of five Indian soldiers along the so-called Line of Control that separates the two sides in the Himalayan region of Kashmir.
    Seeking to defuse tensions, Pakistan's civilian leaders have kept a conciliatory tone, but on Friday, as thousands gathered in Islamabad, emotions spilled into the open.
    The mood was strikingly anti-Western and belligerent, with speakers openly declaring their sympathy for the Taliban fighting Western forces in neighbouring Afghanistan.
    As the crowd cheered, two men performed a patriotic song threatening to "turn the whole of India into Mumbai".
    Others chanted "Whoever is a friend of India is a traitor" and waved black and white striped flags.
    The Pakistani government has called an all party conference on Monday (Sept 9) in Islamabad to discuss relation with India, the situation in Afghanistan and dialogue with Taliban.
    Referring to the conference, Saeed said Pakistan's prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, needed to ensure he had his priorities in the right place.
    "Talk to the Taliban by all means," Saeed said, addressing the prime minister while he talked to the rally crowd.
    "India has opened an office in Qatar with the Afghan Taliban and is pretending to be carrying on a dialogue with them. But we know exactly what is happening. We know that the world is being deceived under the guise of this dialogue," he added, "But your own country has problems that you should try to resolve first. Before talking to the Taliban, you should make it clear during the All Parties Conference on September 9 that the Indian Consulates in Afghanistan are spreading terrorism and violence," Saeed said.
    Saeed founded the LeT, which India blames for the rampage in Mumbai, in the 1990s. He has denied involvement in any attacks, while the organisation itself is banned in Pakistan but tolerated unofficially.
    It is seen as close to the army and believed to be the only group which has not launched attacks inside Pakistan itself.
    Saeed abandoned the leadership after India accused the LeT of being behind an attack on the Indian parliament in December 2001.
    His charity, linked to the LeT, enjoys popular support for its humanitarian work.
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