May 17, 2002	Friday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 4, 1423

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)

ISLAMABAD, May 16: The police have arrested the founder of an outlawed militant group linked to a bloody attack in occupied Kashmir this week, official sources said on Thursday.

Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, former leader of banned Lashkar-i-Taiba, was taken into custody on Wednesday night under the laws that allow for suspects to be detained on suspicion of planning to create unrest, they said.

The move, also confirmed by Lashkar-i-Taiba spokesman Yahya Mujahid, came after Indian Home Minister Lal Krishna Advani accused the group of involvement in the attack in occupied Kashmir on Tuesday which killed 35 people.

The group, known for suicide bombings, was also one of the two outfits which New Delhi blamed for an assault on the Indian parliament in December which led to a tense military standoff between India and Pakistan.

Pakistani security officials said Saeed had been detained for interrogation about his links to other hardliner Islamic groups but the move was not connected to Tuesday’s attack on an Indian army barracks in Kashmir.— AFP