Islamabad, July 22: A court in Lahore today gave Pakistani authorities two days to explain why they are holding former Lashkar-e-Toiba chief Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, who has been in police custody since May, court officials said. The order came two days after his wife filed a petition in Lahore High Court, challenging the "illegal detention" of her husband.

The group was accused by India of a deadly attack on its parliament last December that killed 14 people. Saeed was taken into custody following the attack and held for three months. He was released in April and arrested again in may.

COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING

Yahya Mujahid, spokesman for Saeed's new group, Jamaat al-Dawat, told reporters today that the government cannot justify holding him. "He is not involved in any crime in any part of Pakistan, Mujahid said.

Saeed's wife, Memona, has started a legal battle to win her husband's release, Mujahid said, adding that not even his wife has seen him since his arrest.

"We are extremely concerned about Saeed's life," he said. In her petition, Memona Saeed described her husband as an educator and scholar and stated that "it is the duty of every Muslim to strive and struggle to serve the cause of Islam".

Saeed quit let or army of Medina, before President Gen. Pervez Musharraf banned it in January, along with four other militant Islamic groups.
Bureau Report