A Pakistani court has rejected the government's plea to extend for three more months the house arrest of a U.S.-wanted militant who founded a banned group linked to the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack.
The United States has designated Hafiz Saeed a terrorist and offered a $10 million bounty for him.
Hafiz Saeed, head of the Pakistani religious party, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, gestures outside a court in Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2017. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Saeed ran the Jamaat-ud-Dawa organization, widely believed to be a front for the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group behind the attacks in Mumbai, India, that killed 168 people.
Pakistan put Saeed and four of his aides under house arrest in Lahore in January.
Hafiz Saeed, head of the Pakistani religious party, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, waves outside a court in Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2017. The court rejected the government's plea to extend for three months the house arrest of Saeed, the former leader of a banned militant group allegedly linked to 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
His spokesman, Yahya Mujahid, says a three-judge panel dismissed the government's plea. Saeed's detention ends on Thursday. His aides were released earlier.
It's unclear whether Wednesday's development could open the way for Saeed's extradition to India or the U.S.
Supporters of Hafiz Saeed, head of the Pakistani religious party, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, celebrate outside a court in Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2017. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)