US posts $10m reward for capture of terrorist leader

The money is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, who founded the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba with alleged Pakistani support in the 1980s.

The group was set up to pressure India over the disputed territory of Kashmir and, although it was banned in 2002, it continues to operate with relative freedom under the name of its social welfare wing.

Up to $2m was also offered for Lashkar-e-Taiba’s deputy leader, Hafiz Abdul Rahman Makki, Saeed’s brother-in-law.

Intelligence officials and terrorism experts say Lashkar-e-Taiba has expanded its focus beyond India in recent years and has plotted attacks in Europe and Australia. Some have called it “the next al-Qaeda”.

Saeed operates openly in Pakistan from his base in the eastern city of Lahore and travels widely, giving public speeches and appearing on TV talk shows. He has been one of the leading figures of the Difa-e-Pakistan, or Defence of Pakistan Council, which has held a series of large demonstrations in recent months against Nato and India.

Last night, Saeed denied having links to the Mumbai attacks.

He told Al-Jazeera television: “We are not hiding in caves for bounties to be set on finding us. I think the US is frustrated because we are taking out countrywide protests against the resumption of Nato supplies and drone strikes.

“When we were blamed for attacking the Indian parliament, we challenged that accusation. Me and my party have no links with the attacks on the Indian parliament. I am telling you that we will accept any decision [by courts] if a link is established between us and the attacks. There are international courts that India should approach and we are ready to face them.”

Pakistan placed Saeed under house arrest for several months after the November 2008 attacks in India’s financial capital, but eventually released him after he challenged his detention in court. The government has resisted Indian demands to do more to press charges against him, saying it doesn’t have the necessary evidence.

The reward posted for Saeed’s capture is one of the highest offered by America and is equal to the amount for Mullah Omar, who heads the Taleban. The only larger award is the $25m offered for Ayman al-Zawahri, who succeeded Osama bin Laden as al-Qaeda chief.

Pakistani defence analyst Hasan Askari-Rizvi said the move against Saeed could be payback for his recent demonstrations against US drone strikes and allowing Nato supplies meant for troops in Afghanistan to travel through Pakistan.

Pakistan closed its Afghan border crossings to Nato supplies in retaliation for the airstrikes that killed Pakistani soldiers. The US has been hoping the ongoing parliamentary debate would result in the border being reopened, although the effort has been hampered by political wrangling.

Mr Rizvi said: “This is one way to increase pressure because Hafiz Saeed is one of the people propagating all the time not to reopen the supply line to the Americans.”

The announcement of the rewards also could complicate the debate in parliament even further, since lawmakers could see it as a provocation and an attempt to gain favour with India.

Mr Rizvi said: “The government is in a difficult position. On the one hand, they will be pressured by the US, but they are not really in a position to arrest him.”

The US state department described Saeed as a former professor of Arabic and engineering who heads an organisation “dedicated to installing Islamist rule over parts of India and Pakistan”.

It also noted that six of the 166 people killed in the 2008 Mumbai attacks were US citizens.