ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Wednesday it wanted concrete evidence to proceed legally against the founder of a militant group who has been hit with a $10 million US bounty.

Foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Basit said Islamabad would rather be presented with evidence about Hafiz Saeed than have a public discussion on the matter.

“In a democratic country like Pakistan, where judiciary is independent, evidence against anyone must withstand judicial scrutiny,” the spokesman added in a statement.

The reward for Saeed, the founder of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror group blamed for the 2008 Mumbai attacks, was announced by US Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman in India on Monday.

Saeed lives openly in Pakistan and has spent recent months making a number of high-profile appearances at demonstrations calling on the government not to reopen Nato supply lines to Afghanistan, which have been closed since November.

Saeed, earlier on Wednesday, said he was ready to face “any American court” to answer charges.