Hafiz Saeed faces terror financing charges

A anti-terrorism court indicted Hafiz Saeed on terror financing charges on Wednesday, a government prosecutor and defence lawyer said.

Defence lawyer Imran Gill said his client pleaded not guilty.

The charges were read as the 70-year-old Saeed was present in court, prosecutor Abdur Rauf Watto told Reuters. "He has been charged for collecting funds for banned organizations, JuD and LeT," he said.

Counter terrorism police arrested Saeed in July, days before a visit to Washington by Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The indictment came ahead of a world financial watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) meeting early next year to decide whether to blacklist Pakistan for its failure to curb terror financing. The United States has offered a reward of $10 million for information leading to the conviction of Saeed, who has been arrested and released several times over the past decade.