Pervez Musharraf said he had received millions of US dollars from the Saudi Arabian King. (File photo)
Pakistan's former president, General Pervez Musharraf, has asked the Nawaz Sharif government to release Lashkar chief Hafiz Saeed from his 90-day house arrest, claiming his Jamaat-ud Dawa is a "very fine NGO" engaged in relief work. Along with Hafiz Saeed's house-arrest, which took place on January 27, his JuD was also banned. The organisation later changed its name to Tehreek Azadi Jammu and Kashmir.
"Hafiz Saeed should definitely be freed. They are not terrorists, they run a very fine NGO, they contribute to relief activities in post-earthquake and post floods periods in Pakistan. They run great welfare organisations," Mr Musharraf was quoted as saying by news agency Press Trust of India.
Quoting reports in Pakistani media, PTI said Mr Musharraf told a Pakistani TV channel that Saeed's Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation charity - a front for Jamaat-ud Dawah - was engaging "religious" youth in relief and welfare activities, according to a report in Dawn.
"In my opinion they are against Taliban (in Pakistan), they did not commit any terrorism in Pakistan or anywhere in the world. So they should be dealt separately," he was quoted telling a local television channel. "We (as a nation) remain confused on terrorism, like we are confused in respect to JuD and Hafiz Saeed."
The Lashkar chief had been put under house arrest earlier - after the 26/11 terror strike in Mumbai - but he was released soon after, in June 2009. India had told Pakistan that he was the mastermind of the attack, in which 166 people had died. Despite a $10 million award on offer from the US for information leading to his arrest, he had a free run in Pakistan. After his house arrest this time, Delhi said Islamabad needs to do more if it wanted to prove its commitment to fighting terror.
Hafiz Sayeed has claimed that his house arrest on the increasing rapport between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US president Donald Trump. "This is taking place because of Modi's insistence, Trump's pressure and Pakistan's helplessness," news agency Reuters had quoted him as saying.