Set free by the Lahore High Court nearly six months after he was placed under house arrest in the wake of Mumbai attacks, banned JuD chief Hafiz Mohd Saeed today claimed that the lone Pakistani terrorist captured alive during the 26/11 strikes had "no connection" with his outfit.
A defiant Saeed, addressing a news conference held at a mosque near his home in Johar Town, also vowed to continue his campaign against what he alleged "occupation" of Jammu and Kashmir.
He alleged that he and his associates were detained due to "Indian pressure" in the aftermath of last year's Mumbai attacks and denied that the JuD was involved in the incident in India's financial hub.
"(Mumbai attacker) Ajmal Kasab has no connection with the JuD," he claimed.
"We are a peaceful and public welfare organisation," he said, criticising the Pakistan government for linking the JuD with al-Qaeda.
Saeed, who was released along with his close aide Col (retd) Nazir Ahmed, who was also held in the wake of the Mumbai attacks, said that he opposed the ongoing Pakistani military operations against the Taliban in Swat and other areas of North West Frontier Province, even as he labeled suicide attacks as "un-Islamic".