The United States has said it wants to see Hafiz Saeed, the founder of Lashkar-e-Tayiba brought to justice and this is the reason why it recently announced a reward of $10 million to anyone for information leading to his trial in a court of law.
"We have been very clear why this programme, particularly our Rewards for Justice programme, was put in place. We want to see this individual brought to justice," State Department spokesman Mark Toner told media persons.
"As you remember at the time, there was a lot of speculation of why we did this because everyone knows he's in Pakistan. What we want to do is give the Pakistani authorities the judicial wherewithal to bring this guy to justice," he said.
At the time we used the phrase, and continue to use, evidence that can withstand judicial scrutiny.
"Whether he is tried in a Pakistani court or in a US court or wherever, we want to see him brought to justice," Toner said.
Responding to questions, Toner denied news reports that the US-Pak relationship is now standstill.
"I don't think it's fair to say right now that everything is at a standstill with Pakistan. We have had a series of high-level meetings over the past month to two months that we believe is laying the groundwork for renewed cooperation," he noted.
"We have had this parliamentary review completed. We had Ambassador Grossman over there talking to Pakistani officials. And our counterterrorism cooperation has continued throughout this period," Toner said.
"We don't see eye-to-eye with Pakistan on every issue; that's for sure. But I think we have approached the outcome of this parliamentary review with an open mind. I think we are willing to discuss all the issues that were raised by it, but that dialogue's really just begun," he said.
