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LeT chief Hafiz Saeed's son lambasts Pakistan’s Bilawal Bhutto over extradition remark: ‘Against national interest’

Published 1 week ago2 minute read

Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed's son, Talha Saeed, has reportedly hit out at Pakistan’s former Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari for his remarks that the country had no objection to extraditing “individuals of concern” to India.

According to the Hindustan Times, Talha Saeed said that Bilawal Bhutto “should not” have spoken about the extradition of Pakistanis.

“His statement is against state policy, national interest, and sovereignty, and we strongly condemn it,” Talha was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Times of India cited Talha saying in a video message that “Bilawal Bhutto's suggestion to hand over his father to India...is unacceptable and will be opposed by us and our community”.

“Bilawal Bhutto is either unaware of ground realities or promoting the enemy’s narrative,” he reportedly said and asked, “Could a state representative talk about handing over citizens to an enemy country?”

Both Saeed and his son Talha are listed as global terrorists by the US Treasury Department.

Bilawal said in an interview with Al Jazeera on Friday that his country had no objection to extraditing “individuals of concern” to India as a confidence-building measure, as long as New Delhi showed willingness to cooperate in the process.

According to news agency PTI, Dawn newspaper reported that his comments came in response to a question about extraditing Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed and Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar as possible concessions and good-faith gestures to India.

Bhutto claimed, “India is refusing to comply with certain basic elements that require that conviction to take place,” he said.

“It’s important...to present evidence within these courts, for people to come over from India to testify, to put up with whatever the counter-accusations will be,” the former Pakistan minister said.

“If India is willing to be cooperative in that process, I am sure there will be no hurdle in extraditing any individual of concern,” he added.

Bhutto denied that Hafiz Saeed is a “free man” and said he is in the custody of the Pakistani state. “As far as Masood Azhar is concerned, we have been unable to arrest him or identify him…,” Bhutto said, adding that “it is our belief that he [Azhar] is in Afghanistan”.

Both LeT and JeM have been banned by Pakistan, according to the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA).

Hafiz Saeed, the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack mastermind, is currently serving a 33-year sentence for terror financing, and Masood Azhar, a UN-designated global terrorist, has been proscribed by NACTA.

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