U.S offers $10 million bounty on Hafiz Saeed

Hafiz Saeed, leader of a banned Islamic group Jamat-ud-Dawa attends a prayer for Indian Kashmiri leader Moulvi Showkat Ahmed Shah, who was killed in a blast in Srinagar, India, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Monday, April 11, 2011. Saeed rejected any moves to start peace talk with India. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

The US has announced a bounty of $ 10 million on outlawed Pakistan-based Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.

This was stated by U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman while addressing a gathering at the American Centre here.

She was replying to a question on what the US was doing to bring to justice those involved in terror attacks against India.

Saeed, the founder of terror group LeT, is on India’s most wanted list. After the 26/11 attacks that left 166 people dead, India has asked Pakistan to hand him over.

Ms. Sherman, who is on a four day visit to the country, met Indian officials including Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai during which a host of key issues pertaining to Indo-US ties were discussed.

They also discussed the agenda for the Indo-US Strategic Dialogue to be held in Washington DC in mid-June.

Ms. Sherman is leaving for Patna on Tuesday, the first visit by such a high-ranking U.S. official to Bihar.

From India, Ms. Sherman would travel to Nepal, where she will meet with Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai, other Nepalese officials and South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Secretary-General Ahmed Saleem.