JuD has links with Qaeda: Pak

For the first time,the Pakistan Government on Saturday admitted that Jamaat-ud-Dawa,blamed for the 26/11 attacks,has “prima facie” links with al-Qaeda,as it justified the detention of JuD chief Hafiz Saeed and another top leader after the Mumbai terror strikes.

Submitting his arguments on Saeed,the founder of Lashkar-e-Toiba,and Col (retd) Nazir Ahmed’s petition against their detention,Attorney General Latif Khosa told the Lahore High Court that the Government had received “evidence” that showed the JuD “prima facie has links with al-Qaeda”. Khosa said the Government had “classified information” that would justify their detention.

On his request,the three-member bench had a closed-door meeting with him where he apprised them of the classified information in this regard. The court adjourned the hearing until Monday.

A K Dogar,counsel for Saeed and Nazir,said if the Government had any “legal justification”,it must be provided to them as well.