BIG: US exposes Pakistan over Hafiz Saeed's arrest, demands terrorist's 'full & expeditious prosecution' for the 26/11 Mumbai attack

After the sham arrest of 26/11 terror attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed, the United States demanded Pakistan to carry out prosecution against the UN-proscribed terrorist. In a statement to US media, a US State Department Spokesperson has called the Imran Khan government to take legal action and carry out 'full and expeditious prosecution' against Hafiz Saeed, who was arrested by Pakistan's Punjab CTD in Lahore on Wednesday. 

“The United States calls for Saeed’s full and expeditious prosecution for his involvement in the planning of numerous acts of terror, including the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 innocent people, six Americans among them," the statement by the US State Department Spokesperson read. 

The Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs (SCA) in the US State Department also took to Twitter and called for a full and expeditious prosecution for Saeed's involvement in numerous acts of terror including the Mumbai attacks.

Hafiz Saeed's arrest came days ahead of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s first official visit to the White House to meet US President Donald Trump, which is scheduled to take place on July 22. The crackdown on Hafiz Saeed took place in the aftermath of increased pressures by the FATF and international authorities on Pakistan to take strict action against terrorists and terror activities perpetrated on its soil. 

Earlier on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump took to Twitter and claimed that the sham arrest of the chief of JuD terrorist organisation made by Pakistan was done after a ten year search, owing to great pressures exerted over the last two years to find him.

READ | 10-year Search? Donald Trump Claims Credit For Hafiz Saeed's Arrest In Blunder-filled Statement, Cites US Pressure On Pakistan

His tweet, however, was not well received by the US House Foreign Affairs Committee which countered his claims over search operation on Saeed. In a tweet slamming Trump's claims, the US Committee stated that Pakistan was not looking for Hafiz Saeed for 10 years, but he was living freely in the country and was arrested multiple times and released again.

Notably, Saeed has been repeatedly arrested and then released by Pakistan courts in the last decade. During his most recent release in 2017, the US State Department had rebuked Imran Khan government and had demanded Islamabad to make sure that Saeed is arrested and charged for his crimes. 

Following his multiple releases, the Lashkar-e-Taiba co-founder had also roamed around Pakistan freely, allegedly under the safety blanket of the Pakistan military. Moreover, the designated terrorist even made an entry into Pakistan politics back in 2018, as his party- Milli Muslim League decided to use the little known party to contest the General Elections in 2018 and fielded 265 candidates under the banner of Allah-o-Akbar Tehreek (AAT).

READ | 'FYI Pakistan Was Not Searching For Him, He Was Living Freely': US Committee Counters Donald Trump's Claims On Hafiz Saeed's Arrest