Pakistani militant accused of Mumbai attacks faces terror financing charges

In a photo taken on July 20, 2016, chief of the banned Islamic charity Jamat-ud-Dawa, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, looks over a crowd as they end a "Kashmir Caravan" from Lahore with a protest in Islamabad, Pakistan. PHOTO: REUTERS

LAHORE, PAKISTAN (REUTERS) - A Pakistani court on Wednesday (Dec 11) indicted Islamist militant Hafiz Saeed, the alleged mastermind of deadly 2008 attacks in Mumbai, on terror financing charges, a government prosecutor said.

The charges were read as Saeed was present in the court, Mr Abdur Rauf told Reuters.

Saeed is the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), or the Army of the Pure, a militant group blamed by the United States and India for the four-day Mumbai siege, in which 160 people were killed.

The dead also included several foreigners, including Americans.

Pakistan's counter-terrorism police arrested Saeed in July.

The indictment came ahead of a world financial watchdog meeting early next year to decide whether to blacklist Pakistan on failure to curb terror financing.

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