Thaindian News

Lahore, Jan 13 (IANS) Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed has petitioned the Lahore High Court to direct the Pakistani government to defend him as a citizen of the country in a US court, where he is arraigned for the Mumbai terror strike.A court in New York is hearing a lawsuit moved by an American Jewish family whose relatives were held hostage and killed by Pakistani terrorists in the Nov 26, 2008, Mumbai attack.

The US court has issued summons to Saeed, the director general of Pakistan’s spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and other top officials, The Nation reported.

US nationals Rabbi Gavriel Noah Holtzberg and his wife Rivka were both gunned down by terrorists at the Chabad House in Mumbai. Their toddler son Moshe was saved by his Indian nanny, who ran down the stairs with him.

Moshe’s family has filed nine claims against Saeed and Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, Azam Cheema and Sajid Majid of banned outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) as well as the ISI chief, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, his predecessor Nadeem Taj and two other officials Major Iqbal and Major Samir Ali.

They have been accused of providing logistics and material support in the 26/11 attacks.

For each of the claims, the Holtzbergs have asked for damages to the tune of $75,000.

The JuD chief, through his counsel A.K. Dogar, said he was the head of a charity organisation and has no connection with the LeT.

Dogar said the government had detained Saeed in 2009 and a full bench of the Lahore High Court ordered him to be released, observing there was no evidence that he had links with Al Qaeda or any other terrorist organisation.