ISLAMABAD: The Muslim cleric whom India holds responsible for the 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai has been set free by a court in Pakistan.
Hafiz Muhammad Saeed was put under house arrest in January this year following pressure from India, but the Lahore High Court review board this week ordered his release on the grounds of insufficient evidence to warrant continued detention.
The release on Thursday of Saeed, who for over a decade lived freely and openlydespite a $10-million bounty offered by the US government, enraged India and is likely to anger Washington, which have been pushing Islamabad to crack down harder on terrorist organisations there.
Saeed helped found Lashkar-e-Taiba, which India says participated in the 2001 attack on Parliament in New Delhi, in which 14 people died and brought Pakistan and India, both nuclear powers, to the brink of war.
Later Saeed founded Jamaat-ud-Dawa, an Islamic charity that India and the United States say planned and financed the terrorist assault on Mumbai seven years later. Some 166 people were killed in coordinated attacks on five major sites in central Mumbai over a four-day period.
Saeed's release triggered speculation that he will now take a leadership role in the Milli Muslim League, a political party established by Jamaat-ud-Dawam which has yet to be registered to take part in elections.
The IndiaToday website headlined its story on his release, "Hafiz Saeed walks free; vows to fight for Kashmir cause."
"I was detained for 10 months only to stop my voice for Kashmir," the report quoted Saeed telling supporters gathered outside his residence to celebrate his release.
"I fight for the cause of Kashmiris. I will gather the people from across the country for the cause of Kashmir and we will try to help Kashmiris get their destination of freedom."
Pakistan and India both claim all -- but control only a portion of -- Kashmir, which occupies the southern foothills and slopes of the Himalayan mountains. The two countries have fought three wars over Kashmir since 1947, when they became separate nations through the partition of the Indian subcontinent with the end of British colonial rule.