Bowing to the pressures from the United States, Lashkar-e-Taiba seems to have mellowed and attempted to project a more secular image. In an open letter to the United States authorities, Amir of Lashkar-e-Taiba Hafiz Muhammad Saeed said the policies of Lashkar might differ from that of the US "but we do not mean any harm to any US citizen or property." He claimed that the outfit did not believe in carrying out attacks on embassies or issuing threats. Lashkar recently shifted its activities to Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pak-occupied Kashmir, after the Pakistan government instructed all militant outfits to operate only from that area to escape the eye of international community. The name of the outfit was also changed to Jamaat-Al-Dawa in keeping with a policy of ISI of changing names when the heat's on.
It's an indication they're feeling the heat, but they'll try and run it out. The US has to keep pressure on Pak to get these guys under control - and preferably to disband them as a mini-Taliban. |