26/11 terror attack mastermind freed in Pak

Chief of the hardline Islamist organisation Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) Hafiz Saeed, who was detained following the Mumbai terror attacks in India, was released by the Lahore High Court today.

A JuD spokesperson told reporters that Saeed, who was under house arrest, had been set free.

"Saeed is not a terrorist," the spokesperson said, adding that JuD is not a terror organisation.

Saeed was detained last December after the UN declared JuD, a frontal organisation of the Lashkar-e-Taiba LeT), a terrorist group. He was arrested after the November 26-28 terror attacks in Mumbai that left over 170 people dead.

A K Dogar, Saeed's lawyer, said the Lahore High Court described the detention of Saeed as illegal. He said another JuD leader Nazeer was also freed.