*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media
(NSI News Source Info) ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - August 27, 2009: The international police agency Interpol has issued a "red notice" alert for a Pakistani Islamist wanted in India in connection with attacks in Mumbai that strained relations between the nuclear-armed rivals. 
Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, center, chief of an Islamic charity Jamaat-ud-Dawa, leaves under tight security after appearing before the judicial review board of High Court in Lahore, Pakistan on Tuesday, May 5, 2009. Saeed was detained under house arrest last year as part of Pakistan's investigation into the Mumbai attacks.
India says Hafiz Saeed, founder of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant group, was the mastermind of November's attacks in India's commercial hub in which 166 people were killed.
Saeed was detained in Pakistan in December, after a U.N. Security Council resolution put him on a list of people and organisations supporting al Qaeda.
But in June, a court released him on grounds of insufficient evidence, prompting the Pakistani government to lodge an appeal with the Supreme Court for his re-arrest. That case is pending.
India has been insisting that Pakistan act against Saeed and other members of the LeT, which is banned in Pakistan. Pakistan says it has insufficient evidence against him.
Interpol says a red notice is not an international arrest warrant but is issued after authorities in a country issue a warrant to help with the identification or location of a suspect with a view to their arrest or extradition.
India's foreign minister, S.M. Krishna said the world had to take notice of the Interpol alert against Saeed.
"I think the world should take note of these developments and then you know they will have to come to their own conclusions," Krishna told reporters on Wednesday.
"India can only do this much and nothing beyond, and we have done whatever we can and we will continue to impress on Pakistan the desirability of curbing terror."
A notice on Interpol's website identified the suspect as Hafiz Saab Sayed. The agency said an arrest warrant for him had been issued in Mumbai for various offences including "crimes against life and health", kidnapping and terrorism.
Interpol says many of its member countries consider a red notice a valid request for provisional arrest. Pakistani government spokesmen were not available for comment.
INFORMATION "REJECTED"
India has on several occasions given Pakistan information with the aim of helping build a case against Saeed, but Krishna said the information had been rejected.
Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik told a Pakistani television station on Tuesday that the government still needed "solid evidence" against Saeed.
Pakistan has arrested at least five people and put them on trial for the Mumbai assault, but Indian officials say Saeed's case is a test of whether Pakistan was serious about dismantling the "terrorist network" on its soil.
Saeed is one of 38 people, including Pakistani nationals, accused by India of planning the guns-and-grenades attack by 10 gunmen India says were Pakistanis.
India broke off a 5-year-long peace process with Pakistan after the Mumbai attack saying talks could resume only if Pakistan acted against the planners and prevented more attacks.
The neighbours have fought three wars since 1947.
Saeed heads the Jamaat-ud-Dawa charity which the United Nations said in December was a front for the LeT. A charity spokesman, Yahya Mujahid, said India was trying to deceive the world in its effort to link Saeed to Mumbai.
"We'll fight our legal battle. It doesn't bother us," Mujahid said of the Interpol notice. "We have a Pakistani high court verdict saying there's no evidence of Mr Saeed's involvement in the Mumbai attack."
Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, center, chief of an Islamic charity Jamaat-ud-Dawa, leaves under tight security after appearing before the judicial review board of High Court in Lahore, Pakistan on Tuesday, May 5, 2009. Saeed was detained under house arrest last year as part of Pakistan's investigation into the Mumbai attacks.
India says Hafiz Saeed, founder of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant group, was the mastermind of November's attacks in India's commercial hub in which 166 people were killed.
Saeed was detained in Pakistan in December, after a U.N. Security Council resolution put him on a list of people and organisations supporting al Qaeda.
But in June, a court released him on grounds of insufficient evidence, prompting the Pakistani government to lodge an appeal with the Supreme Court for his re-arrest. That case is pending.
India has been insisting that Pakistan act against Saeed and other members of the LeT, which is banned in Pakistan. Pakistan says it has insufficient evidence against him.
Interpol says a red notice is not an international arrest warrant but is issued after authorities in a country issue a warrant to help with the identification or location of a suspect with a view to their arrest or extradition.
India's foreign minister, S.M. Krishna said the world had to take notice of the Interpol alert against Saeed.
"I think the world should take note of these developments and then you know they will have to come to their own conclusions," Krishna told reporters on Wednesday.
"India can only do this much and nothing beyond, and we have done whatever we can and we will continue to impress on Pakistan the desirability of curbing terror."
A notice on Interpol's website identified the suspect as Hafiz Saab Sayed. The agency said an arrest warrant for him had been issued in Mumbai for various offences including "crimes against life and health", kidnapping and terrorism.
Interpol says many of its member countries consider a red notice a valid request for provisional arrest. Pakistani government spokesmen were not available for comment.
INFORMATION "REJECTED"
India has on several occasions given Pakistan information with the aim of helping build a case against Saeed, but Krishna said the information had been rejected.
Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik told a Pakistani television station on Tuesday that the government still needed "solid evidence" against Saeed.
Pakistan has arrested at least five people and put them on trial for the Mumbai assault, but Indian officials say Saeed's case is a test of whether Pakistan was serious about dismantling the "terrorist network" on its soil.
Saeed is one of 38 people, including Pakistani nationals, accused by India of planning the guns-and-grenades attack by 10 gunmen India says were Pakistanis.
India broke off a 5-year-long peace process with Pakistan after the Mumbai attack saying talks could resume only if Pakistan acted against the planners and prevented more attacks.
The neighbours have fought three wars since 1947.
Saeed heads the Jamaat-ud-Dawa charity which the United Nations said in December was a front for the LeT. A charity spokesman, Yahya Mujahid, said India was trying to deceive the world in its effort to link Saeed to Mumbai.
"We'll fight our legal battle. It doesn't bother us," Mujahid said of the Interpol notice. "We have a Pakistani high court verdict saying there's no evidence of Mr Saeed's involvement in the Mumbai attack."
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