Pakistan secretly seizing assets of Hafiz Saeed: Report

Islamabad : Pakistan government is looking forward to seize control of charities and financial assets linked to Hafiz Saeed, a suspect and mastermind of 26/11 Mumbai attacks, said a report.

If the government seizes his assets then this will be Pakistan's first major move against Saeed's network, which includes 300 seminaries and schools, hospitals, a publishing house and ambulance services.

All companies were banned from donating to Saeed and outfits named on the UN Security Council sanctions lists on Monday. The outfits were banned from fund-raising activities in Islamabad, too.

While, several media channels claimed it to be an effect of international pressure, a minister claimed that the action has not been taken under US pressure.

The government detailed its plans in an order to provincial and federal departments on December 19, three officials said. Marked "secret", the December 19 document from the finance ministry directed Pakistan's five provinces to submit a plan by December 28 for a "takeover" of Saeed's two "charities", the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and the Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF).

The US has labelled the JuD and the FIF "terrorist fronts" for the Lashkar-e-Toiba, a group Saeed founded in 1987.