Mumbai terror attack mastermind and Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed opened the first office of his political party, the Milli Muslim League, in Lahore on Sunday, Dawn reported.

Saeed, a United Nations-designated terrorist, opened the office just days after the Pakistan government asked the Islamabad High Court not to let him register the party for the general elections in 2018. Pakistan’s Ministry of Interior Affairs told the court Saeed’s party would “breed violence and extremism in politics”.

After inaugurating the office on Sunday, Saeed visited the areas of the National Assembly constituency 120, a seat that the Sharifs have won since 1985, Dawn reported. He reportedly spoke to the people of the area and asked them about their problems.

On December 2, Saeed confirmed that his Jamaat-ud-Dawa will contest the general elections in Pakistan. He had said that the decision to enter politics was to highlight “the Kashmir cause internationally”. Saeed made the announcement after he was freed from house arrest on November 24.

Last week, the United States also raised concerns about Saeed contesting the elections. “It’s a group that the United States government considers to be a terror organisation,” US State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert had said.