Hafiz Saeed barred from leaving Pakistan

Jamat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed, mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, has been barred from travelling abroad after the Pakistan government banned 23 terror groups operating under new names after being outlawed

Jamat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed, mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, has been barred from travelling abroad after the Pakistan government banned 23 terror groups operating under new names after being outlawed.

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The Punjab government directed the police to keep a strict vigil on 1,690 office-bearers and workers of the banned outfits.

The provincial home department said Saeed's movements have not been restricted, but he and his two associates have been barred from travelling abroad. Their accounts have been frozen and they will not be able to get arms licences, Dawn reported Tuesday.

The terror groups that were banned in 2002 but which again started their activities under a new name include Sipah-i-Sahaba, Jaish-e-Muhammad, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Tehrik-i-Jafria, Harkatul Jihad Islami, Harkatul Mujahideen, Hizbul Tehrir, Lashkar-i-Jhangvi and Sipah-i-Muhammad.

The Lashkar-e-Taiba became Jamat-ud-Dawa, Sipah-i-Sahaba became Millat-i-Islamia Pakistan, Jaish-e-Muhammad turned into Alfurqan and Khuddamul Islam and Tehrik-i-Jafria were renamed Islami Tehrik Pakistan.

India wants Saeed, the mastermind of the Nov 26, 2008 attacks, which left 166 people dead and 244 injured, to be tried in Pakistan.