The detention of a former leader of a banned Islamist militant group was declared illegal by a Pakistan court yesterday and his release ordered, the court and his lawyer said. Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, the founder and former leader of the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group, was placed under house arrest in the eastern city of Lahore on August 10. Authorities said he was detained because of fears his activities could disrupt law and order. The decision to hold him had nothing to do with an investigation into a plot foiled in London this month to blow up airliners over the Atlantic, Pakistan said.