India welcomes US move to add Saeed''s organisations to terror list

Smita Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, April 3

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India on Tuesday welcomed US State and Treasury Department’s coordinated action to include Milli Muslim League (MML) and Tehreek-e-Azad-e-Kashmir (TAJK)—both Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) political fronts—in designated list of terrorists.

LeT aliases, including MML—the political platform on which 26/11 terror mastermind Hafiz Saeed intends to fight upcoming general elections in Pakistan—have been added to LeT’s designations as Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT).

Six Americans were among 166 people killed in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

“To avoid sanctions, LeT has repeatedly changed its name over the years. In January 2017, LeT began operating under the name Tehreek-e-Azadi-e-Kashmir. LeT has engaged in terrorist activities under this name, including inciting terrorism, as well as recruiting and fundraising. In August 2017, LeT chief Hafiz Saeed created the MML to serve as a political front for the group,” says a State Department official release. The statement points out that  LeT members make up MML’s leadership and “the so-called party openly displays Saeed’s likeness in its election banners and literature”.

This decision comes close on the heels of the 15th meeting of India-US counter-terrorism Joint Working Group in Delhi last week and inaugural India-US Counter Terrorism Designation Dialogue in December last year. India called it a vindication of its position on Pakistan’s unwillingness to act against terror groups on its soil.

“The designation is a rejection of the attempts being made in Pakistan to mainstream terrorist individuals and entities, and highlights Pakistan’s failure to fulfil its international obligation to dismantle terrorist sanctuaries, and disrupt terror financing,” said Raveesh Kumar, spokesperson of MEA (Minstry of External Affairs). 

Seven members of MML central leadership body have also been included as SDTG for acting on behalf of LeT. These functionaries include Saifullah Khalid, Muzammil Iqbal Hashimi, Muhammad Harris Dar, Tabish Qayyuum, Fayyaz Ahmad, Faisal Nadeem, and Muhammad Ehsan.

Established in 1980s,State Department designated LeT as an FTO and SDGT on December 26, 2001. Its leader, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, is also designated as an SDGT.

‘These designations seek to deny LeT the resources it needs to plan and carry out further terrorist attacks. Among other consequences of the designations, LeT’s property and interests in property subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with the group,’ added the state department release. 

Emphasising that the move aims to curb LeT’s attempts at circumventing sanctions and deceiving the public about its true character, Ambassador Nathan A. Sales, Coordinator for counter-terrorism at State Department said: “Make no mistake: whatever LeT chooses to call itself, it remains a violent terrorist group. The United States supports all efforts to ensure that LeT does not have a political voice until it gives up violence as a tool of influence”.