Pakistan bans media coverage of Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ud-Dawa

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has banned media coverage of Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ud-Dawa as part of a crackdown on terrorism, media reports said today.

Interior Ministry has imposed a ban on the media coverage of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, Falah-e-Insaniyat (FIF) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) under the National Action Plan (NAP), ARY News reported.

Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has issued the notification in this regard.

It was not clear whether the move was linked to Prime Minister Nawz Sharif's assurance to US President Barack Obama last month to take "effective action" against UN-designated terrorist individuals and entities, including LeT and its affiliates, as per its international commitments and obligations under UN Security Council resolutions.

The National Action Plan was devised in January this year in the wake of the Peshawar Army Public School massacre in which over 150 people, mostly school children, were killed.

In the aftermath of the attack, the government and military had decided to carry out operations in the tribal areas and take action against all terrorist organisations and their facilitators across the country.

The United Nations declared Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) a terrorist organisation and also individually designated Saeed as a terrorist in December 2008.

The United States has already put USD 10 million bounty on the head of Saeed.

Saeed, who orchestrated the November, 2008, Mumbai terror attack in which 166 people were killed, roams around freely in Pakistan despite being a designated terrorist and has made many anti-India remarks and speeches.

Pakistan has said that there is no case against Saeed and that he is free to move in the country as a Pakistani national.