Mumbai attack mastermind Lakhvi walks free from Pak jail
11 April 2015 11:17 PM GMT
Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, who guided 10 LeT gunmen from a control room during the 26/11 Mumbai attack, on Friday walked free after being under detention for six years, a day after a Pakistani court ordered his release.
55-year-old Lakhvi, mastermind of the nearly 60-hour siege, was released from Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi after authorities received the order from the Lahore High Court, setting free the LeT operations commander.
India had strongly reacted to the court's decision, saying it "eroded" the value of assurances repeatedly conveyed to it by Pakistan on cross-border terrorism. A member of Lakhvi's legal team on Friday submitted the LHC order to the jail authorities and subsequently they released him at 1.40 pm.
Jamaat-ud-Dawa supporters were present outside the prison to receive Lakhvi. Some four to five cars reached outside the Adiala Jail at around 1 pm and as soon Lakhvi came out of the jail, he got into his car and left for his Islamabad residence. JuD spokesman Yahya Mujahid did not offer any comment on Lakhvi's release when PTI contacted him.
We have released Lakhvi after a member of his legal team presented the LHC order. The trial has been underway since 2009.
Lakhvi saga shows Pak’s hypocrisy, says daily
Hours before Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi walked free on Friday, a leading Pakistani newspaper pulled up Islamabad for its failure to convict the mastermind of the Mumbai terror attack.
After the Lahore High Court ordered him freed on Thursday.
The Nation said in an editorial on Friday that the Lakhvi saga had come a full circle. "The government has once more miserably failed at prosecuting Lakhvi," it said.
"Not only has it failed, it seems like it didn't even try hard this time around. "Lakhvi's conviction could have been the watershed moment this country needed in the struggle against extremism..."
The editorial said the U-turn vis-a-vis Lakhvi, who oversaw the massacre of 166 Indians and foreigners in Mumbai in November 2008, made all the anti-terrorism speeches by Pakistani leaders look hollow.
"The hypocrisy is so blatant that it insults the public's intelligence," it said.
"The original trial was stalled for years, with either the accused or the judge or the witness not present at the court premises due to 'security concerns'. "It is astonishing that the state can manage a traditional military parade in the middle of a full-blown war against militants without a hitch but cannot provide enough security for a court trial."
The Nation pointed out how comfortable Lakhvi was in prison a collection of rooms with open visiting hours and access to television and internet to determine where the government's loyalties lie.
"If the death of 132 children (at the hands of terrorists in Peshawar) cannot force the government to mend its way, it it hard to see what will."
Lakhvi's release not good for world: France
Terming the release of Mumbai attack mastermind Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi by Pakistan as "unfortunate", France today said the development was not good for either India or the world.
The issue came up when Prime Minister Narendra Modi met a delegation of French lawmakers, led by National Assembly President Claude Bartolone.
"One of the members of the French delegation said the unfortunate release of Lakhvi in Pakistan was not good news for either India or the world," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin told reporters while briefing on the meeting. The French side expressed solidarity with India on this,” he added.
55-year-old Lakhvi, mastermind of the nearly 60-hour siege, was released from Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi after authorities received the order from the Lahore High Court, setting free the LeT operations commander.
India had strongly reacted to the court's decision, saying it "eroded" the value of assurances repeatedly conveyed to it by Pakistan on cross-border terrorism. A member of Lakhvi's legal team on Friday submitted the LHC order to the jail authorities and subsequently they released him at 1.40 pm.
Jamaat-ud-Dawa supporters were present outside the prison to receive Lakhvi. Some four to five cars reached outside the Adiala Jail at around 1 pm and as soon Lakhvi came out of the jail, he got into his car and left for his Islamabad residence. JuD spokesman Yahya Mujahid did not offer any comment on Lakhvi's release when PTI contacted him.
We have released Lakhvi after a member of his legal team presented the LHC order. The trial has been underway since 2009.
Lakhvi saga shows Pak’s hypocrisy, says daily
Hours before Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi walked free on Friday, a leading Pakistani newspaper pulled up Islamabad for its failure to convict the mastermind of the Mumbai terror attack.
After the Lahore High Court ordered him freed on Thursday.
The Nation said in an editorial on Friday that the Lakhvi saga had come a full circle. "The government has once more miserably failed at prosecuting Lakhvi," it said.
"Not only has it failed, it seems like it didn't even try hard this time around. "Lakhvi's conviction could have been the watershed moment this country needed in the struggle against extremism..."
The editorial said the U-turn vis-a-vis Lakhvi, who oversaw the massacre of 166 Indians and foreigners in Mumbai in November 2008, made all the anti-terrorism speeches by Pakistani leaders look hollow.
"The hypocrisy is so blatant that it insults the public's intelligence," it said.
"The original trial was stalled for years, with either the accused or the judge or the witness not present at the court premises due to 'security concerns'. "It is astonishing that the state can manage a traditional military parade in the middle of a full-blown war against militants without a hitch but cannot provide enough security for a court trial."
The Nation pointed out how comfortable Lakhvi was in prison a collection of rooms with open visiting hours and access to television and internet to determine where the government's loyalties lie.
"If the death of 132 children (at the hands of terrorists in Peshawar) cannot force the government to mend its way, it it hard to see what will."
Lakhvi's release not good for world: France
Terming the release of Mumbai attack mastermind Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi by Pakistan as "unfortunate", France today said the development was not good for either India or the world.
The issue came up when Prime Minister Narendra Modi met a delegation of French lawmakers, led by National Assembly President Claude Bartolone.
"One of the members of the French delegation said the unfortunate release of Lakhvi in Pakistan was not good news for either India or the world," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin told reporters while briefing on the meeting. The French side expressed solidarity with India on this,” he added.
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