Pakistan said on Thursday that it was "very seriously" considering to file an appeal against the Lahore High Court's order releasing banned Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafeez Mohammed Saeed from detention in connection with the Mumbai terror attacks.

The matter of filing an appeal against the High Court order freeing Saeed from house arrest "has not been given up", Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said.

He was answering a question at the weekly news briefing on whether Pakistan had dropped plans to file an appeal against Lahore High Court's order.

The issue is "being considered very seriously," Basit said. However, he did not give any details. Basit had last week said that the provincial government of Punjab would be filing the appeal against the court's order.

The Lahore High Court had on June 2 ordered the release of 59-year-old Saeed, who has been under house arrest since December 11, immediately and held his detention as illegal.

Saeed was put under house arrest on December 11 last year after the UN Security Council banned the Jamaat, declaring it a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is blamed by India for November 26 Mumbai terror attacks that killed over 180 people.

Immediately after Saeed was released, India had voiced its disappointment, saying it raises serious doubts over Pakistan's sincerity in acting with determination against terrorist groups and individuals operating from its territory.

A close aide of Saeed, Col (retd) Nazir Mohammad, also held in connection with the November 26 attacks in Mumbai, was freed along with Saeed by the High Court.

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