Pakistan Militant Accused Of Mumbai Attacks Jailed For Terror-Financing

ISLAMABAD -- A Pakistani court has jailed the alleged mastermind of deadly 2008 attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai to a total of 11 years in two terrorism-financing cases.

The anti-terrorism court in the eastern city of Lahore also fined Hafiz Saeed 30,000 rupees ($194) on February 12.

Co-defendant Malik Zafar Iqbal, one of Saeed’s close aides, was given a similar punishment.

Saeed was arrested in July last year and charged with collecting funds for a banned organization. He pleaded not guilty.

Saeed is the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a militant group blamed by the United States and India for the Mumbai siege in which 160 people, including Americans, were killed. The cleric has denied involvement.

His jailing comes as Pakistan faces potential blacklisting by a world financial watchdog -- the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) -- for failing to curb terror financing.

Pakistani officials say they are working to meet the Paris-based FATF's demands ahead of the organization's plenary meeting on February 16.

Washington has long pressured Pakistan to try Saeed, who has been designated a terrorist by the United States and the United Nations.

The United States has offered a reward of $10 million for information leading to the conviction of Saeed, who has been repeatedly detained and released over the past 10 years.