The U.S. has offered a $10 million bounty for Saeed and the U.N. Security Council labeled his party a terrorist front group in 2008. Chaudary/Associated Press)WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The White House is calling Pakistan’s release of a U.S.-wanted militant a “step in the wrong direction” and says a refusal to re-arrest him would damage bilateral ties and Pakistan’s reputation around the world. In a statement Saturday, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the U.S. “strongly condemns” the release of Hafiz Saeed from house arrest. Saeed ran the Jamaat-ud-Dawa organization, widely believed to be a front for the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group, which India says was behind the Mumbai attack. The campaign appeared to produce some success this year when Pakistani security forces assisted with the release of a Taliban-held U.S.-Canadian family after five years in captivity.

Source: Washington Post November 25, 2017 17:26 UTC