Mumbai Chabad house, after 2008 attack (file)
Mumbai Chabad house, after 2008 attack (file)Flash90

The American Jewish Congress (AJC) on Thursday issued a statement slamming the decision to free the terrorist who masterminded the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai.

"The American Jewish Congress is outraged by the release from house arrest in Pakistan today of Hafiz Saeed, the radical Islamist leader who masterminded the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks," the AJC statement read. The murderous attacks on a series of targets in India included a three-day siege at Nariman House, the home of the Jewish Chabad Lubavitch movement in Mumbai, which left seven people dead."

"The American Jewish Congress abhors the legitimization of deadly acts of terror by radical terrorist groups against innocent civilians. Saeed’s house detention was itself insufficient punishment for such an atrocity and an inadequate deterrent to the ever multiplying list of radical Islamist groups and individuals looking to hijack our universal values of freedom and tolerance to spread their own hateful agendas.

"His release after a mere 10 months of 'detention' in a city where his actions are lauded by other peripheral factions now facilitates his expected play for power at next year’s Pakistani General Election, under the umbrella of the Milli Muslim League party, set up during his tenure under house arrest.

"The American Jewish Congress hopes that India and the US will continue to exert pressure and use all available tools to encourage the Pakistani authorities to bring Saeed to justice and to adopt a stronger stance in the fight against terrorist groups and ensure that radical Islamist groups have no role to play in the future of legitimate political life and dialogue in Pakistan."

Nine people were brutally murdered in the Mumbai Chabad House attack nd the bodies of the Israelis among them, including Chabad emissaries Rivka and Gavriel Holtzberg, showed evidence of torture. The Holtzberg's young son was hidden by his Indian nurse who managed to escape with him.