Dogar, who shouted slogans like "Allah-o-Akbar (God is great)" along with Saeed's supporters after emerging from the court, said the JuD chief had been detained on December 11 last year without any valid grounds or reasons. Saeed's house arrest was subsequently extended for "some vague" reasons, he said. He questioned why the Pakistan government had implemented the UN Security Council's resolution against the JuD when India had not acted on 26 resolutions on the Kashmir issue.

During an earlier hearing of Saeed's petition challenging his detention, Pakistan's Attorney General Latif Khosa had told the court that the government had evidence that showed the JuD's "prima facie links" with Al Qaida. This was the first time that Pakistan admitted that JuD has links with Al Qaida. Saeed and Ahmed had challenged their detention through a petition in the High Court.

Saeed and several other JuD leaders were placed under house arrest in the wake of the Mumbai terrorist attacks but most of them were subsequently freed. A judicial review board of the Lahore High Court had recently extended the detention of Saeed, also the founder of the Lashker-e-Taiba, and Ahmed by two months till July 8. Five LeT activists, including Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and Zarar Shah, are currently being tried by an anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi for alleged involvement in the Mumbai attacks.

In a brief order, the three-member bench of the Lahore High Court said on Tuesday that "the court accepts the petition of Hafiz Mohammad Saeed and Col (retd) Nazir Ahmed against their detention, which is illegal. The court orders their immediate release."

... contd.