26/11 attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed's JuD to contest 2018 elections in Pakistan

File photo

Lahore: Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed's Jamaat-ud-Dawa will contest the 2018 General Elections in Pakistan, according to a senior member of the outfit.

Sheikh Yaqoob said the new front "will field candidates in every constituency in the country in next year's election."

"We are here to stay in the political field. People want a party that talks about making Pakistan strong against its enemies India, the United States and Israel and at the same time help them in solving their basic livelihood problems," he said, as per PTI.

Last month, the JuD had had formed the Milli Muslim League at the time when Saeed was detained in Lahore. The Election Commission of Pakistan is yet to register it as a political party.

On January 30, Saeed and his four aides - Abdullah Ubaid, Malik Zafar Iqbal, Abdul Rehman Abid and Qazi Kashif Hussain - were placed under house arrest in Lahore under the anti-terrorism act.

At that time, the league president Saifullah Khalid had said, "We have decided to make a new political party, so that Pakistan is to made a real Islamic and welfare state," Reuters had reported.

Saeed is a wanted terrorist by India and the US for his alleged role in masterminding the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai that claimed 166 lives.

He even carries a bounty of 10 million USD (approx Rs 66 crore) on his head for his role in the attack.

JuD is a front for the Lashkar-e- Taiba militant group.

(With Agency inputs)