Trump has repeatedly asked Pakistan to abide by its UNSC commitments to deny terrorists safe haven and block their access to funds.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday hailed the arrest of Mumbai terror attack mastermind and JuD chief Hafiz Saeed saying that "great pressure has been exerted over the last two years to find him."
Saeed was arrested Wednesday on terror financing charges by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab Province, just days ahead of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's maiden visit to the US. Khan will visit the US on July 21 during which he will hold talks with Trump.
Trump has repeatedly asked Pakistan to abide by its UN Security Council commitments to deny terrorists safe haven and block their access to funds.
Saeed's arrest is also being seen as pressure on Pakistan in connection with its commitment to the Financial Act Task Force (FATF) whose next deadline is in October.
Saeed, a UN-designated terrorist whom the US has placed a USD 10 million bounty on, was travelling to Gujranwala from Lahore to get pre-arrest bail in terror financing cases registered against him there when he was arrested, a CTD official told PTI.
Weighing on his arrest, Trump tweeted, "After a ten year search, the so-called “mastermind” of the Mumbai Terror attacks has been arrested in Pakistan. Great pressure has been exerted over the last two years to find him!"
Earlier today, soon after his arrest, Saeed was presented before an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Gujranwala that sent him on judicial remand for seven days. He was subsequently shifted to Lahore's high-security Kot Lakhpat jail where former prime minister Nawaz Sharif is serving seven years imprisonment in a corruption case, the official said.
In a statement, the CTD said Saeed was arrested in a case registered in Gujranwala and he will face the trial in ATC, Gujranwala.
The CTD on July 3 had registered 23 FIRs against 13 top leaders of Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) including Saeed on the charges of "terror financing" in different cities of Punjab province.
On Monday, Saeed and his three aides were granted pre-arrest bail by an anti-terrorism court in Lahore, which stopped police from arresting them till August 3 in a land grabbing case and setting up a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) seminary over there.
Saeed-led JuD is believed to be the front organisation for the LeT which is responsible for carrying out the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people. He was listed under UN Security Council Resolution 1267 in December 2008.
The US Department of the Treasury has designated Saeed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, and the US, since 2012, has offered a USD 10 million reward for information that brings Saeed to justice.
Under pressure from the international community, Pakistani authorities have launched investigations into matters of the LeT, the JuD and its charity wing the Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) regarding their holding and use of trusts to raise funds for terrorism financing.
(With PTI inputs)
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