Lahore:
Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed today filed a petition in a Pakistani court asking it to direct the federal government to defend him in a lawsuit filed against him in a US court by relatives of two American Jews killed in the Mumbai attacks.
Saeed, the founder of the banned Lashker-e-Taiba, said in his petition filed in the Lahore High Court that the government should appoint a counsel to defend him in the court in Brooklyn in the US.
India has accused Saeed of masterminding the 2008 terrorist attacks on Mumbai that killed 166 people, including six Americans.
The court in Brooklyn has summoned current ISI chief Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha and his predecessor Nadeem Taj and Lashker-e-Taiba leaders, including Saeed, to appear before it in connection with the suit filed by relatives of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife, who were among those killed during the attacks.
Saeed noted in his petition that the federal government had announced it would defend ISI officials in the US lawsuit and said he had the "constitutional right" to seek similar legal aid as a citizen of Pakistan.
A K Dogar, who has served as Saeed's counsel in several cases, is representing the JuD in the Lahore High Court. Officials said the court is yet to set a date for hearing Saeed's petition.
JuD spokesman Yahya Mujahid claimed the Lahore High Court had cleared Saeed of charges related to the Mumbai attacks and the US court had no right to summon him.
"In spite of all the dossiers provided by India, nothing has been established against Saeed," Mujahid said.
Saeed, the founder of the banned Lashker-e-Taiba, said in his petition filed in the Lahore High Court that the government should appoint a counsel to defend him in the court in Brooklyn in the US.
India has accused Saeed of masterminding the 2008 terrorist attacks on Mumbai that killed 166 people, including six Americans.
The court in Brooklyn has summoned current ISI chief Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha and his predecessor Nadeem Taj and Lashker-e-Taiba leaders, including Saeed, to appear before it in connection with the suit filed by relatives of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife, who were among those killed during the attacks.
Saeed noted in his petition that the federal government had announced it would defend ISI officials in the US lawsuit and said he had the "constitutional right" to seek similar legal aid as a citizen of Pakistan.
A K Dogar, who has served as Saeed's counsel in several cases, is representing the JuD in the Lahore High Court. Officials said the court is yet to set a date for hearing Saeed's petition.
JuD spokesman Yahya Mujahid claimed the Lahore High Court had cleared Saeed of charges related to the Mumbai attacks and the US court had no right to summon him.
"In spite of all the dossiers provided by India, nothing has been established against Saeed," Mujahid said.
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