Pakistan's shame: 139 Pakistanis on UN terror list; Hafiz Saeed also named

Amid its apparent failure to withdraw support and funding to proscribed terrorist organisations, Pakistan is set to be 'grey listed' by the Financial Action Task Force in June

Pakistan continues to be associated with globally-censured terrorists with 139 Pakistani citizens and entities featuring in the United Nations Security Council's (UNSC's) consolidated list of terrorists or terror-supporting organisations. The individuals and entities from the country in the list include Mumbai terrorist attack mastermind Hafeez Saeed's outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba, mafia don Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar and the Haqqanis. The list was released on Tuesday and highlighted names of terrorists who lived in Pakistan, used Pakistani soil for their operations or collaborated with terrorist groups operating from within Pakistan.  

The list is topped by Osama bin Laden's heir apparent Ayman al-Zawahiri, who was a former operational and military leader of Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ). Saeed, who is the leader of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and the Jamaat-ud-Dawaa (JuD), is listed as a person also wanted by the Interpol for his involvement in terrorist activities. Haji Mohammed Yahya Mujahid, the LeT's media contact, and Saeed's deputies, Abdul Salaam and Zafar Iqbal, are listed under him. They are also wanted by Interpol. The LeT is listed with its various aliases, such as al-Mansoorian, Paasban-i-Kashmir, Paasban-i-Ahle Hadith, Jamaatud Dawa and Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation.   

Terrorist entities that were allegedly based in Pakistan, worked from there or had links to Pakistani individuals include Al Rasheed Trust, Harkatul Mujahideen, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Wafa Humanitarian Organisation, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Rabita Trust, Ummah Tameer-i-Nau, Afghan Support Committee, Revival of Islamic Heritage Society, Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, Al-Harmain Foundation, Islamic Jihad Group, Al Akhtar Trust International, Harkatul Jihad Islami, Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, Jamaatul Ahrar and Khatiba Imam Al-Bukhari. Some of them are listed as based in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area.   

 

Here is all you need to know about United Nation's terror list explained in 10 points: 

 

1. Hafiz Saeed: The United States on Tuesday designated Milli Muslim League, a political front of Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ud Dawa (JuD), as a global terrorist outfit. On Wednesday, the UNSC listed Hafiz Saeed as a person also wanted by Interpol for his involvement in terrorist activities.



2. Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar: Underworld don Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, wanted in India as the mastermind of the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts and accused of crimes such as match-fixing and extortion, figured in the UN Security Council's updated list of terrorists and militant groups. Dawood, an Indian national, has held several Pakistani passports issued in Rawalpindi and Karachi, according to the list. The UN list says that the underworld don owns a palatial bungalow in the hilly area of Noorabad, Karachi.

The 62-year-old fugitive mafia boss accrued a vast property portfolio across the Midlands and south-east in the UK as well as India, the UAE, Spain, Morocco, Turkey, Cyprus, and Australia. Dawood, who has an Interpol red notice against him, is believed to be hiding in Pakistan. 

3) Haji Mohammed Yahya Mujahid: He is LeT's media contact. Hafiz Saeed's deputies, Abdul Salaam and Zafar Iqbal, are also listed. Like Hafiz Saeed, they are all wanted by the Interpol.

 

The LeT is listed with its various aliases, such as al-Mansoorian, Paasban-i-Kashmir, Paasban-i-Ahle Hadith, Jamaatud Dawa and Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation, the report said.

4) Ayman al-Zawahiri: Al-Zawahiri led some members of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad to join Al-Qaida in June 2001 and encouraged others to do so, including Nasr Fahmi Nasr Hassannein (deceased), Tariq Anwar el Sayed Ahmed and Sobhi Abdel Aziz Moahmed el Gohary Abu Sinna (deceased), also known as Abu Hafs al Masri. Al-Zawahiri assisted in the formation of Al-Qaida between 1988 and 1989. He served as an advisor to Osama bin Laden (deceased) and was described as the second in command of the organisation. Al-Zawahiri frequently issues statements and tapes in support of Al-Qaida and its activities.

 

The UN data claims that al-Zawahiri is still hiding somewhere in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area. Several of his lieutenants are also on the list who, the UN believes, are hiding with him.

5) Ramzi Mohammad bin al-Sheibah: The second person on the list is another internationally known terrorist, Ramzi Mohammad bin al-Sheibah, who is identified as a Yemeni national. He was arrested in Karachi and handed over to the US authorities. 

 

More than a dozen suspected terrorists are listed in the same category: Arrested in Pakistan and handed over to the US authorities. Some of them had Pakistani passport, issued by various Pakistani missions in the Middle East and renewed in Pakistan.

 

The report, however, did not give the total number of entries in the updated UNSC list.

6) Most notorious Pakistan-based groups: Terrorist entities that were allegedly based in Pakistan, worked from there or had links to Pakistani individuals, include Al Rasheed Trust, Harkatul Mujahideen, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Wafa Humanitarian Organisation, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Rabita Trust, Ummah Tameer-i-Nau, Afghan Support Committee, Revival of Islamic Heritage Society, Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, Al-Harmain Foundation, Islamic Jihad Group, Al Akhtar Trust International, Harkatul Jihad Islami, Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, Jamaatul Ahrar and Khatiba Imam Al-Bukhari.

7) LeT continues to operate freely within Pakistan, says US: The US Treasury Department specified that members who were designated as SDGTs included MML President Saifullah Khalid, Vice President Muzammil Iqbal Hashimi, General Secretary Fayyaz Ahmad, Joint Secretary Muhammad Harris Dar, Information Secretary Tabish Qayyuum, Finance Secretary Muhammad Ehsan as well as Broadcast and Publications Secretary Faisal Nadeem.

8) Properties blocked: The Treasury Department said that "all property and interests in property of these persons subject to US jurisdiction are blocked" and US citizens were banned from having any transactions with them.

 

"LeT continues to operate freely within Pakistan, holding public rallies, raising funds and plotting and training for terrorist attacks," the State Department said.

 

"Make no mistake: whatever LeT chooses to call itself, it remains a violent terrorist group," the Department's Counterterrorism Coordinator Nathan A. Sales said in Washington.

 

"Today's amendments take aim at LeT's efforts to circumvent sanctions and deceive the public about its true character."

 

Treasury Under Secretary Sigal Mandelker warned that "those working with the Milli Muslim League, including providing financial donations, should think twice about doing so or risk exposure to US sanctions.

9) India hails decision: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday welcomed the United States' move of designating Hafiz Saeed's Milli Muslim League (MML) as a terrorist outfit, saying that the designation reflects rejection of Pakistan's attempt to mainstream terrorism.

 

"India welcomes the action taken by the US for designating the Milli Muslim League as an alias of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a Pakistan based terrorist group and its functionaries who are acting on behalf of LeT," MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar, said, in a statement.

 

The statement added, "The designation is a rejection of the attempts being made in Pakistan to mainstream terrorist individuals and entities, and highlights Pakistan's failure to fulfill its international obligation to dismantle terrorist sanctuaries, and disrupt terror financing." 

10) Pakistan set to be 'grey listed' by FATF in June: Amid its apparent failure to withdraw support and funding to proscribed terrorist organisations, Pakistan is set to be 'grey listed' by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in June. According to Pakistani media reports, this will mean that Pakistan's financial system will be designated as posing a risk to the international financial system over "strategic deficiencies" in its capability to curb financing of terrorist organisations and money laundering.  

Further, according to these reports, Islamabad will work with the global watchdog to build an action plan for plugging the deficiencies identified by the latter. In FATF's June session, Pakistan's plan will come up for approval by consensus.