Hafiz Saeed should be prosecuted: US

Sending message to Pakistan, US Department of State spokesperson Heather Nauert said the country should conduct precise operation against Saeed.

She was responding to a question on Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s decision to not prosecute Saeed.

"So we’ve certainly seen the reports about this, that the Pakistani Government has said that no case has been registered against this individual, Hafiz Saeed Sahib. Many of you may recall we talked about this a couple weeks ago, about who this individual is. We regard him as a terrorist, a part of a foreign terrorist organization. He was the mastermind, we believe, of the 2008 Mumbai attacks which killed many people, including Americans as well," Nauhert said.

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

She further said: "The Pakistani Government released him from house arrest not that long ago. We believe that he should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. He is listed by the UN Security Council 1267, the al-Qaida Sanctions Committee for targeted sanctions due to his affiliation with Lashkar-e Tayyiba, which is a designated foreign terror organization. So I just want to remind people of that, of who this individual is, and make it clear that we have addressed our concerns with the Pakistani Government."

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi earlier was quoted as saying by Geo News that there was no case against 'Hafiz Saeed sahib' in Pakistan.

Saeed is suspected of masterminding the attack Mumbai in 2008 that killed 166 people.