ISLAMABAD: The leader of a banned Pakistani sectarian militant group is set to walk free from jail, officials said yesterday.
Malik Ishaq, the head of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) which is dedicated to killing minority Shias, is expected to be released tomorrow after the Punjab provincial government withdrew a request to extend his detention under public order laws.
LeJ has claimed responsibility for numerous bloody attacks, including two bombings targeting Shias in the southwestern city of Quetta in 2013 that killed a total of nearly 200 people.
A senior legal official said the decision not to seek an extension of Ishaq’s detention was made by a three-judge review panel at Lahore High Court on Monday.
Ishaq, named a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” by the US, has been implicated in numerous murder cases and was accused of masterminding a 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore which killed eight people.
An anti-terror court in May cleared him of inciting violence and of making speeches which fomented hate but he was held under maintenance of public order laws.
AFP
