New Delhi:
He is on India's most-wanted list for, among other things, playing a key role in 26/11. But Pakistan says that the multiple dossiers given by India that elaborate on Hafiz Saeed don't provide enough evidence against the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) leader.
Saeed is believed to work closely with the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the terrorist group that plotted the attacks against Mumbai.
Pakistan's dossier comes days ahead of the SAARC summit, where Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani and Manmohan Singh will both be present. India's Foreign Affairs Minister SM Krishna suggested that a Gilani-Singh meeting is likely. "There is every possibility that a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani will take place during the SAARC Summit." Dr Singh said, "We will be coming under one roof. So, if we come at the same time, it is obvious we will run into each other."
Pakistan, in its dossier handed to India over the weekend, has said that India's evidence against Saeed will not stand in Pakistani courts. It also stated that India has based its evidence on the statement of Ajmal Kasab, the only terrorist caught alive during 26/11, and that his testimony is not acceptable.
Pakistan also said that the involvement of Ilyas Kashmiri is "imagination." Kashmiri, who was once closely associated with Pakistan's ISI, was named by David Coleman Headley as a sort of guru. Headley, arrested in the US in September 2009 by the FBI, has confessed to helping in the plotting and execution of terror attacks, including 26/11, in India.
Kashmiri is believed to be the operational head of the '313 Brigade', an umbrella organisation of terror groups like the Lashkar and Jaish-e-Mohammed headed by Kashmiri.
At public rallies recently, Kashmiri is said to have threatened attacks on the Commonwealth Games, the Indian Premier League and the Hockey World Cup.