U.S asks Pakistan to prosecute ‘terrorist’ Saeed 

U.S asks Pakistan to prosecute ‘terrorist’ Saeed 

Context

The U.S. said on Friday that it has told Pakistan clearly that Hafiz Saeed is a “terrorist” and should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, reacting strongly to Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s remarks that there was no case against Saeed

State Department responds strongly to Pak. PM’s remarks

The reaction by the State Department came after Mr. Abbasi, during an interview to Geo TV on Tuesday, referred to Saeed sahib.

Call for legal action

State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said: “We believe that he should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law… He is listed by the UNSC 1267, the Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee for targeted sanctions due to his affiliation with Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is a designated foreign terror organisation,” Ms. Nauert told reporters.

Challenging times

Acknowledging that the U.S. has had some challenging times with the government of Pakistan recently, Ms. Nauert said the administration expected Pakistan to do a lot more to address terrorism issues.

Earlier

Earlier this month, the U.S. suspended about $2 billion in security assistance to Pakistan. In retaliation, Pakistan reportedly suspended military and intelligence cooperation with the U.S. The State Department said it had not received any formal information in this regard.