An Islamist leader, who had a US$10 million bounty placed on his head this week by Washington, has been helping Pakistan de-radicalize militants under efforts to stabilize the strategic US ally, a top Pakistani counter-terrorism official said on Friday.
Hafiz Saeed, suspected of masterminding an attack by Pakistan-based gunmen on India’s financial capital Mumbai in 2008 that killed 166 people, including six Americans, met Pakistani government officials from Punjab Province and pledged his support for the drive, the official said.
“Hafiz Saeed has agreed with the Punjab government program of de-radicalization and rehabilitation of former jihadis and extended full cooperation,” the counter-terrorism official sais.
Photo: AFP
The counter-terrorism official said that Saeed had not been paid for his de-radicalization activities.
US officials in Washington said the decision to offer the reward under the US Department of State’s longstanding Rewards for Justice program came after months of discussions among US agencies involved in counter-terrorism.
The US$10 million figure signifies major US interest in Saeed. Only three other militants, including Taliban leader Mullah Omar, fetch that high a bounty. There is a US$25 million bounty on the head of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.
STRAINED TIES
The announcement of a reward for Saeed comes at a time of strained ties between the US and Pakistan and is likely to increase pressure on Islamabad to take action against one of Pakistan’s most notorious Islamist leaders.
A senior police official in Punjab province, who is closely involved with investigations into militant activity, confirmed that Saeed and his supporters were helping efforts to transform militants into law-abiding citizens.
“Jamaat-ud-Dawa [JuD] were consulted and they approved the de-radicalization plan. They assured us of their intellectual input and resource materials. They also offered teachers,” he said, referring to the charity Saeed heads.
International law does not prohibit the US from paying money for information that might lead to the arrest of an alleged criminal, said Sarah Knuckey, a professor at New York University Law School.
Legal questions would arise if, for example, the US set out to arrest Saeed on the territory of another state or targeted him for killing.
“There should be more efforts to lawfully arrest and prosecute alleged criminals, instead of the use of drones strikes and targeted killings,” Knuckey said.
The bounty highlighted the divide between the US’ direct approach to tackling militancy and strategies employed by Pakistan, a nuclear-armed South Asian nation seen as critical to US efforts to pacifying Afghanistan.
While Pakistan has mounted offensives against militant groups such as the homegrown Taliban, it also contends other tactics such as de-radicalization are vital to sustaining battlefield gains.
JuD spokesperson Yahya Mujahid said the group had not participated in the de-radicalisaton program.
Hafiz Khalid Waleed, another senior JuD member, declined to comment on whether the Islamist leader had been directly assisting the government in de-radicalization.
However, Waleed said Saeed and his followers were promoting non-violence.
“Hafiz Saeed was one of the first religious leaders to denounce militancy and suicide bombings,” Waleed said. “Our schools and madrasahs [religious seminaries] are urging peace.”
NEW SKILLS
Under the program, former militants are urged to develop technical skills that could give them long-lasting employment to keep them from taking up arms against the state again.
Experts also try to reverse what Pakistani officials call brainwashing by militants who preach holy war against the West.
To help the de-radicalisation program, Saeed identifies former militants who might still be recruited for jihad because they are jobless and idle and he helps steer them toward the program, the counter-terrorism official said.
India maintains Saeed is a criminal and has long called for his capture, blaming the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) — the militant group he founded in the 1990s — for the Mumbai carnage.
The two nations have a tentative peace process under way with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari scheduled to meet Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today, the first visit to India by a Pakistani head of state since 2005.
Pakistan is home to some of the world’s most dangerous militant groups, who carry out suicide bombings and beheadings in their bid to topple the US-backed government. There are also less violent groups with the same aims.
However, many Pakistanis privately support Saeed’s animosity to India. The two countries were born out of the 1947 division of the subcontinent after freedom from British colonial rule and hundreds of thousands were killed in rioting at the time.
However, the bounty, which would be paid for information leading to Saeed’s arrest and conviction, puzzled Pakistanis. His whereabouts are usually not a mystery. He wanders the country freely, fires up supporters at rallies and runs a huge charity.
Waleed mocked the decision to place a bounty on Saeed.
“[US] President Barack Obama’s election symbol was a donkey and his government is acting like one. They have no evidence against Hafiz Saeed and are scrambling to make up stories,” he said
FREE TO GO
Pakistani officials say Saeed, who Western officials suspect of links to al-Qaeda, has the right to move freely because he has been cleared by Pakistani courts of a range of accusations.
Saeed abandoned the leadership of the LeT after India said it was behind an attack on the Indian parliament in December 2001. However, his charity is suspected of being a front for the LeT.
He denies any wrongdoing and links to militants.
More than 1,000 of Saeed’s supporters protested against the bounty on Friday.
Saeed agreed to support de-radicalization because he felt that former militants should find jobs and re-join mainstream society, said the counter-terrorism official, who has been at the forefront of efforts to fight militancy in Punjab.
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