Lahore: Chief of Jamat-ud-Dawa, which is considered an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Taiba (Let), Hafiz Muhammad Saeed has told Muslims to be heartened by the death of Osama bin Laden, as his “martyrdom” would not go in vain.
A spokesman for the JuD group said that Hafiz Saeed had told followers at special prayers held for the slain al Qaeda leader that this “great person” would continue to be a source of strength and encouragement for Muslims around the world.
“Osama bin Laden was a great person who awakened the Muslim world,” Saeed’s spokesman Yahya Mujahid quoted him as saying during prayers at the headquarters of the JuD charity in Lahore on Monday.
“Martyrdoms are not losses, but are a matter of pride for Muslims,” Saeed said. “Osama bin Laden has rendered great sacrifices for Islam and Muslims, and these will always be remembered.”
The LeT, of which the JuD is said to be a front, is blamed for the November 2008 assault on Mumbai, which killed 166 people in India’s commercial hub.
Western security analysts believe that LeT is linked to al Qaeda, though LeT officials deny this.
Mujahid said thousands of Saeed’s followers, many of them often in tears, took part in the prayers.
Al Qaeda leader bin Laden was shot dead by U.S. special forces in an operation targeting a compound in garrison town of Abbottabad early on Monday.
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