US puts $10m bounty on Lashkar-e-Taiba's Hafiz Saeed

The US has offered a $10m (£6.2m) bounty for Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, the founder of Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba [LeT].

Mr Saeed now heads the Jamaat-ud-Dawa group, widely seen as a front for LeT - which is blamed for the 2008 Mumbai attacks in India.

A $2m bounty was also announced on Abdul Rehman Makki, Mr Saeed's brother-in-law and co-founder of Lashkar.

Both Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Lashkar-e-Taiba are blacklisted by the US.

The US announced the award for their capture or information leading to their capture, officials said.

The three-day rampage in November 2008 by 10 gunmen in Mumbai left 165 people dead. Nine of the attackers were also killed.

India blamed the Mumbai attacks on LeT, and India-Pakistan ties hit rock bottom.

The sole

Top US war commanders meet with Pakistan’s army chief

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Two US generals met with Pakistan’s army chief on Wednesday in a high-stakes meeting aimed at nudging Islamabad to resume a cooperative relationship with the United States.

It was the first formal discussion among top military commanders since US airstrikes killed 24 Pakistani soldiers at Afghan border outposts in a hotly disputed attack in November.

Osama bin Laden's house demolished in Pakistan

Police, wrecking crews knock down compound that sheltered late al-Qaeda leader

Local residents gather outside the house in Pakistan where al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was caught and killed last May. Two residents said Saturday the Pakistani government is demolishing the compound. (B.K.Bangash/Associated Press

 Pakistan onSaturday began demolishing the three-storey compound where Osama bin Laden lived for years and was killed by U.S. commandos last May, eliminating a concrete reminder of the painful and embarrassing chapter in the country's history.

Pakistan was outraged by the covert American raid because it was not told about it beforehand. The country's powerful military faced rare domestic criticism because it was not able to stop U.S. troops from infiltrating the country by helicopter from Afghanistan.

The compound was located next to Pakistan's equivalent of West Point.

Three mechanized backhoes began their demolition of the compound in the northwest city of Abbottabad after sunset on Saturday, said two local residents, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were afraid of being harassed by the government.

Authorities set up floodlights so they could work after dark, said the residents.

Backhoes broke outer walls

The demolition team conducted its work under heavy security. A large team of police set up an outer cordon around the compound to keep spectators away, said an Associated Press reporter who managed to get close enough to see the demolition work under way.

A ring of army soldiers set up an inner cordon and warmed themselves against the winter chill by lighting a bonfire.

The backhoes broke through tall outer boundary walls that ringed a courtyard where one of the U.S. helicopters crashed during the operation to kill the al-Qaeda chief, said the AP reporter. They then began to tear down the compound itself.

A Pakistani intelligence official confirmed that the demolition was in progress but declined to say why the government chose to do it. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.