LAHORE, Feb 12 - Mumbai attack mastermind and Jamat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed was sentenced to 11 years in two terror financing cases on Wednesday, four days ahead of a crucial meeting of the Financial Action Task Force in Paris where Pakistan will present its case to get itself off the �Grey List�.
Saeed, a UN designated terrorist whom the US has placed a USD 10 million bounty on, was arrested on July 17 in the terror financing cases. He is lodged at the Lahore�s Kot Lakhpat Jail in high security.
Anti-terrorism court Judge Arshad Hussain Bhutta sentenced Saeed and his close aide Zafar Iqbal to five and a half years each and imposed a fine of Rs 15,000 in each case. A total of 11 years sentence will run concurrently.
Saeed and Iqbal were sentenced in two cases registered against them in Lahore and Gujranwala cities on the application of the Counter Terrorism Department of Punjab police.
�Saeed and Iqblal will have to spend five and a half years in imprisonment,� a Deputy Prosecutor General said after the verdict.
Interestingly, the court on Tuesday accepted Saeed�s plea to club all six terror financing cases pending against him in the Anti-terrorism Court, Lahore and announce the verdict on completion of the trial.
The verdict comes four days ahead of a crucial meeting of the FATF in Paris where Pakistan will present its case to get itself off �Grey List�.
The FATF in October last decided to keep Pakistan on its Grey List for failure to curb funnelling of funds to terror groups Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad and others.
If not removed off the list by April, Pakistan may move to a blacklist of countries that face severe economic sanctions, such as Iran.
The FATF is backed by the UN Security Council-passed resolutions which made its recommendations binding and in case of deficiencies, sanctions could be imposed. � PTI