LONDON – HAFIZ Muhammad Saeed, the head of the banned Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD),toured Britain during the 1990s, stirring up Muslim youths to becomejihadis years before 9/11, a BBC investigation has found.
Hafiz Saeed, who has a $10 million bounty on his head for allegedlymasterminding the Nov 2008 attacks in Mumbai, thrilled audiences in packedmosques in cities around this country by calling for a return to the dayswhen Muslims waged jihad and infidels paid them protection money.
Hafiz Saeed, the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), has always deniedinvolvement in the Mumbai carnage.
The revelation came amidst concerns for the British government andintelligence agencies about the large number of Muslims going abroad tofight “holy wars”. For most people this controversial religious callingcame to the fore after 9/11, 7/7 (the attacks in Britain in July 2005) andthe Arab Spring — young, disenfranchised and radical recruits heading fromBritain to Iraq, Somalia, Libya and Syria.