Pakistan has released designated terrorist Hafiz Saeed, outraging the U.S. Justice Department, which has a $10 million bounty on his head over his ties to a group that killed 168 people in a 2008 Mumbai attack, The Associated Press reports. "The Pakistani government should make sure that [Saeed] is arrested and charged for his crimes," said State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert.
Prior to his release, Saeed had spent 10 months under house arrest in Pakistan. He is accused of founding the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group; India accuses Lashkar-e-Taiba of being behind the devastating Mumbai attack. "[Saeed] was not only the mastermind, he was the prime organizer of the Mumbai terror attacks in which many innocent Indians and many people from other nationalities were killed," said India's External Affairs Ministry in protest of the accused terrorist being allowed to "walk free and continue with his evil agenda."
Saeed addressed thousands of his followers after his release, claiming he was detained for protesting India's oppression of the people of Kashmir, The New York Times reports. "My struggle is aimed at safeguarding the interests of Pakistan," he said. "I want Kashmir's freedom from India and this is my crime. I was arrested for it." Saeed's spokesman, Yahya Mujahid, called his client's release a "victory of truth."
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