US offers $10m bounty for militant group's founder

The US has offered a $10m bounty for the founder of the Pakistani militant group blamed for the attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai in 2008 that killed 166 people, a move that could complicate US-Pakistan relations at a tense time.

Hafiz Muhammad Saeed founded Lashkar-e-Taiba in the 1980s, allegedly with Pakistani support, to put pressure on India over the disputed territory of Kashmir. Pakistan banned the group in 2002 under pressure from the US, but it operates with relative freedom – even doing charity work using government money.

The US has designated Lashkar-e-Taiba and its social-welfare wing Jamaat-ud-Dawa as foreign terrorist organisations. Intelligence officials and terrorism experts say the group has plotted attacks in Europe and Australia.