Paper on Saeed is literature not evidence, says Pakistan

NEW DELHI - Pakistani Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir Thursday said Indian evidence against Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed was not enough to prosecute him for the Mumbai terror attacks and what New Delhi had given was “literature rather than evidence”.

As far as Hafiz Saeed is concerned we got a brief paper on this which was supposed to give us evidence about his activities. But the fact is that the paper was a piece of literature rather than evidence, evidence in the legal sense, Bashir told reporters after his talks with Indian counterpart Nirupama Rao here.

Bashir said Pakistan had arrested Saeed but was set free by a court that found that the evidence was not enough to detain him.

Hafiz Saeed doesn’t speak for the state of Pakistan or for the government of Pakistan or for the people of Pakistan. The point needs to be registered, he said.

He said his country’s number one priority is to deal with terrorism.

We have suffered hundreds of Mumbais. This is something that has come to us from across the border (with Afghanistan), he said.

He however later apologised for using the term literature.

I don’t mean to dismiss what India has given us. I am sorry. Today we got three dossiers. We will study them.

Asked about Saeed’s threats to launch anti-India jehad, Bashir repeated that the militant leader was not speaking for the government of Pakistan.

Saeed in a rally in Lahore Feb 5 had threatened to launch anti-India jehad if the Kashmir issue was not resolved.