Pakistan targets group linked to Mumbai attacks

[December 11, 2008]  ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- Pakistan closed offices of a charity linked to a militant group suspected in the Mumbai attacks Wednesday, a day after the outfit was declared a terrorist group by the United Nations, an official said.

Nine offices of the Jemaat-u-Dawa group were sealed in the southern city of Karachi, Sindh provincial home secretary Arif Ahmed Khan told The Associated Press.

Jemaat-u-Dawa has branches across Pakistan, as well as schools and medical clinics. It was unclear if they were all being sealed.

A Security Council panel on Wednesday declared Jamaat-ud-Dawa a terrorist group subject to U.N. sanctions including an asset freeze, travel ban and arms embargo.

The charity's hard-line Islamist chief quickly denied that it was involved in terrorism and denounced the world body's move as an attack on religious groups.

He said the group would petition the U.N. as well as national and international courts to overturn the decision.

"If India or the U.S. has any proof against Jamat-ud-Dawa, we are ready to stand in any court. We do not beg, we demand justice," Hafiz Mohammed Saeed said at a news conference in the eastern city of Lahore.

U.S. officials say the group is a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba, a banned militant group accused by India of carrying out and planning the Mumbai terror attacks last month.

A crackdown on Jamaat-ud-Dawa would underpin the promise by Pakistan to pursue those responsible for the Mumbai attacks, which left 171 dead in India's commercial capital.

But Islamabad complains that India has not shared evidence from its investigation of the attack, underlining the mistrust hampering U.S. efforts to avert a deeper crisis between nuclear-armed neighbors who have already fought three wars.

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.