A combative Hafiz Saeed, Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief, on Wednesday dared the U.S. to carry out a military raid against him like the one that killed Osama bin Laden, saying he was not hiding and would inform the Americans himself about his whereabouts.
Saeed made the remarks while addressing a news conference with other leaders of the Defa-e-Pakistan Council (DPC) at Flashman Hotel in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, located a short distance from the Pakistan Army’s General Headquarters.
This is his first press conference after the American administration offered a reward of $10 million for him on Monday.
He even taunted the U.S. to give him the bounty offered for him under the Rewards for Justice programme, saying he would inform American authorities about his whereabouts.
“I am not hiding in caves and mountains, I am here in Rawalpindi,” he said.
Saeed offered to make public his itinerary for the next few days, saying he intended to travel to Narowal in Punjab later in the day and then go to Lahore on Thursday.
He even claimed that if the U.S. gave him the bounty, he would use the money in the impoverished province of Balochistan and account for its expenditure.
Reiterating his claim that the JuD and its workers had no links to the 2008 Mumbai attacks, he contended that there was no evidence against him.
He dismissed allegations about his involvement in terrorism as “Indian claims that are part of media propaganda”.
Published - April 04, 2012 05:47 pm IST
