JuD has no links with Mumbai attacks, Al-Qaeda, LeT : Saeed

Islamabad, Feb.4 (ANI): The Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), the terror outfit which supposedly planned and executed the November 2008 Mumbai attack, has claimed that it has no links with the Mumbai attacks or with the Al-Qaeda.

According to the Dawn, the banned terror outfit (JuD) has released a letter saying that it has no role in the Mumbai carnage, and neither has any links with the other terror groups such as Al-Qaeda or the Taliban.

"We categorically make it clear and declare that Jamaat-ud-Dawa is neither an associate of Al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden nor the Taliban, hence the embargo imposed is materially in contradiction to that set out in their rules and highly unjustified under the international law of human dignity and freedom," the letter said.

The letter, signed by the JuD chief Hafiz Muahmmad Saeed, added that the United Nations (UN) had taken a hasty step while deciding to ban the organisation as it was only involved in charity work in the country.

"The UN decision was detrimental to the interests of Pakistan. Millions across the country were directly or indirectly benefiting from JuD's services particularly in the areas of health, education, water, sanitation, rehabilitation and particularly the provision of food and shelter to the homeless," it said.

Saeed remarked that the UN's ban on the JuD was due to a prejudice supported by the Indian stance on the Mumbai attack, and it had no material facts to support the claims that the group was involved in the attack.

The letter reiterated that the JuD had no organizational or legal link with Lashkar-e-Taiba, and it was a legal Pakistan based charitable NGO, and all of its institutes and projects were registered in the country.

Incidentally, the Jamaat-ud-Dawa's letter urging the United Nations to lift the ban on it, coincides with the visit of the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to Pakistan. (ANI)