Hafiz Saeed's JuD to contest 2018 general elections in Pak
18 Sep 2017 4:47 PM GMT
Lahore: Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed's Jammat-ud-Dawah will foray into Pakistan's political scene by contesting the 2018 general elections, a senior member of the outfit said, a day after its candidate finished third in a crucial by-poll.
Last month, Jamaat-ud-Dawah, a front for the Lashkar-e- Taiba militant group that carried out the deadly 2008 Mumbai attack, announced that it was launching the Milli Muslim League.
Sheikh Yaqoob, a JuD-backed candidate who was defeated by ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif's wife Kuslsoom from a parliamentary seat that fell vacant after he was disqualified by the Supreme Court, said the new front "will field candidates in every constituency of the country in next year's election."
Yaqoob wanted to contest yesterday's election from Milli Muslim League, launched just before the NA-120 by-poll, but could not do so as the Election Commission of Pakistan is yet to register it as a political party.
Yaqoob was placed in 2012 on a US Treasury sanctions list of those designated as leaders of terrorist organisations, The New York Times reported.
"We have got a very good response in NA-120. It was our first election and people have welcomed us," said Yaqoob, who contested as an independent candidate.
"We are here to stay in the political field. People want a party that talks about making Pakistan strong against its enemies India, United States and Israel and at the same time help them in solving their basic livelihood problems," he said.
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