Hafiz Saeed should be prosecuted to 'fullest extent of law': US

Agencies
January 19, 2018

Washington, Jan 19: A day after Pakistan's Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said that no action could be taken against Hafiz Saeed as there is no case against him, the United States Administration has called for the prosecution of the UN-designated terrorist "to the fullest extent of the law".

Reacting strongly to Pakistan PM's remarks, US State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said, ''The US believes that Hafiz Saeed should be prosecuted and Pakistan has been told about it.''

"We believe that he should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. He is listed by the UNSC 1267, the al-Qaida Sanctions Committee for targeted sanctions due to his affiliation with Lashkar-e-Toiba, which is a designated foreign terror organisation," Nauert said in her daily news conference on Thursday.

"We have made our points and concerns to the Pakistani government very clear. We believe that this individual should be prosecuted," Nauert said.

Speaking to Pakistan's leading Geo TV on Tuesday, Abbasi also referred to Hafiz Saeed as 'sahib' or 'sir'.

"There is no case against Hafiz Saeed 'sahib' in Pakistan. Only when there is a case can there be action," Abbasi said when asked why there was no action against him.

Responding to a question on the JuD chief, Nauert further said the US has "certainly seen" the reports about Abbasi's comment on Hafiz Saeed.

"We regard him as a terrorist, a part of a foreign terrorist organisation. He was the mastermind, we believe, of the 2008 Mumbai attacks which killed many people, including Americans as well," she added.

Saeed, who heads terrorist outfit Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD), was released from house arrest in Pakistan in November.

The US has labelled JuD the "terrorist front" for the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), a group Saeed founded in 1987. LeT was responsible for carrying the 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people.

Acknowledging that the US has had some challenging times with the government of Pakistan recently, Nauert said the Trump Administration expects Pakistan to do a lot more to address terrorism issues.

"That's something that we've been very clear about all along. You know the news that we had that came out a couple weeks ago about our decision to withhold some of the security funding for Pakistan," she said.

Nauert said the entire administration is on the same page on the issue of US-Pakistan relationship.

Early this month, the US suspended about USD 2 billion worth of security assistance to Pakistan accusing it of not doing enough in the fight against terrorism.

In retaliation, Pakistan suspended military and intelligence co-operation with the US.

The State Department yesterday said it has not received any formal information in this regard from Pakistan.

Meanwhile, former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai yesterday called out on Pakistan Prime Minister's bluff that there is no case against 2008 Mumbai mastermind Hafiz Saeed.

“Oh! There is plenty of evidence. Everyone knows that,” said Karzai.

The former Afghan president said this while attending the 2018 Raisina Dialogue in the national capital.

Saeed has been grabbing headlines often since his release from house arrest in November. He was placed under the same in January 2017.

A Pakistani Urdu newspaper ‘Khabrain’ recently sparked a row with its new year calendar.

The calendar has become a talking point as it carries a photograph of Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief and 2008 Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed.

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News Network
November 24,2025

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Israel has launched a new act of aggression on a residential neighborhood in Lebanon's capital, Beirut, killing and injuring about two dozen civilians.

The Israeli regime's military said in a statement that its forces carried out a so-called precise strike in a residential apartment in Dahiyeh in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Sunday.

The aggression targeted residential areas, killing at least five people and injuring more than 28 people, Lebanon's Health Ministry said. 

Hezbollah announced the martyrdom of senior Hezbollah commander Haytham Ali Tabatabai and four resistance fighters.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun condemned the airstrike, calling it a clear demonstration of Tel Aviv’s disregard for repeated international calls to halt violations on Lebanese soil.

“Israel refuses to implement international resolutions and all efforts aimed at ending the escalation and restoring stability,” Aoun said, urging the international community to take action to prevent further aggression.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement also condemned the attack, holding the international community accountable. 

“The international community bears responsibility and continues to provide cover for these attacks as long as it does not restrain the occupiers,” said Ali Abu Shahin, a member of the group’s political bureau.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced that the Israeli army carried out a strike “in the heart of Beirut."

Netanyahu reportedly approved the operation following recommendations from top Israeli security officials.

Two senior US officials commented on the Israeli strike.

The first official said that Israel did not notify Americans in advance about the attack. "We were informed immediately after the strike was carried out."

The second senior official said that the "US knew for several days that Israel was planning to escalate its strikes in Lebanon, but did not know in advance the timing, location, or target of the strike."

Speaking from the site of the Israeli strike, Lebanese MP Ali Ammar condemned the attack as part of a broader campaign of aggression that has targeted "all of Lebanon since the Washington-sponsored ceasefire."

He stated that "any attack on Lebanon is a violation of red lines; this aggression is part and parcel of the entity that targets Lebanon's dignity, sovereignty, and security of citizens."

Ammar went on to say the resistance is responding with "utmost wisdom, patience, and will confront the enemy at the appropriate time."

"Unfortunately, the enemy is emboldened to commit its aggression by voices within Lebanon that have turned themselves into tools that support its aggression," he added.

The Israeli attack on the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital is the latest blatant violation of the ceasefire Israel signed with Hezbollah in November 2024, which was intended to end hostilities that had escalated into full-scale war.

An Israeli strike on the Ain al-Hilweh camp near Sidon in southern Lebanon late Tuesday killed at least 14 people. It wounded several others, including young students, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

The military claimed the attack targeted “a Hamas training compound” used to plan and carry out attacks against the regime -- a claim that has frequently been made without evidence.

Hamas rejected the allegations as “a blatant lie aimed at justifying the massacre,” stating it had “no military installations in the Palestinian camps in Lebanon” and that the targeted site was merely “an open sports field.”

According to Lebanese authorities, Israeli attacks have killed approximately 4,000 people and displaced more than 1.2 million residents across the country since October 2023.

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News Network
November 28,2025

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Mangaluru, Nov 28: Karnataka Health Minister and Dakshina Kannada district in-charge minister Dinesh Gundu Rao on Friday handed over Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, highlighting the severe distress faced by farmers due to crashing crop prices.

PM Modi arrived at the Mangaluru International Airport en route to Udupi, where Gundu Rao welcomed him and submitted the letter. The chief minister’s message stressed that farmers are suffering heavy losses because maize and green gram are being bought far below the Minimum Support Price (MSP). The state urged the Centre to immediately begin procurement at MSP.

According to the letter, Karnataka has a bumper harvest this year—over 54.74 lakh metric tons of maize and 1.98 lakh metric tons of green gram—yet farmers are unable to secure fair prices. Against the MSP of ₹2,400/MT for maize and ₹8,768/MT for green gram, market rates have plunged to ₹1,600–₹1,800 and ₹5,400 respectively.

The chief minister has requested the Centre to:

• Direct NAFED, FCI and NCCF to start MSP procurement immediately.
• Ensure ethanol units purchase maize directly from farmers or FPOs.
• Increase Karnataka’s ethanol allocation, citing high production capacity.
• Stop maize imports, which have depressed domestic prices.
• Relax quality norms for green gram, allowing up to 10% discoloration due to rains.

The letter stresses that MSP is crucial for farmer dignity and income stability and calls for swift central intervention to prevent a deepening crisis.

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Agencies
November 22,2025

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New York/Washington: US President Donald Trump has again claimed to have solved the conflict between India and Pakistan, repeating his assertion during a meeting with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in the Oval Office.

Mamdani flew to Washington DC for his first meeting with Trump in the White House on Friday. Trump said he “enjoyed” the meeting, which he described as “great.”

During remarks in the Oval Office, with Mamdani standing next to him, Trump repeated his claim that he solved the May conflict between India and Pakistan.

"I did eight peace deals of countries, including India and Pakistan,” he said.

On Wednesday, Trump had said he threatened to put 350 per cent tariffs on India and Pakistan if they did not end their conflict, repeating his claim that he solved the fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbours and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called him to say “we're not going to go to war.”

Since May 10, when Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a “full and immediate” ceasefire after a “long night” of talks mediated by Washington, he has repeated his claim over 60 times that he “helped settle” the tensions between India and Pakistan.

India has consistently denied any third-party intervention. India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians. India and Pakistan reached an understanding on May 10 to end the conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.

Mamdani emerged victorious in the closely-watched battle for New York City Mayor, becoming the first South Asian and Muslim to be elected to sit at the helm of the largest city in the US.

He had been the front-runner in the NYC Mayoral election for months and defeated Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa and political heavyweight former New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent candidate and was officially endorsed by Trump just hours before the elections.

Indian-descent Mamdani is the son of renowned filmmaker Mira Nair and Columbia University professor Mahmood Mamdani. He was born and raised in Kampala, Uganda and moved to New York City with his family when he was 7. Mamdani became a naturalised US citizen only recently, in 2018.

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