Mumbai aftermath: Jamat-ud-Dawah branded terrorist group by UN

Acceding to Indian and US requests in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks, the UN Security Council has branded Pakistan-based Jamat-ud-Dawah, the front for banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a terrorist group and four top LeT leaders as global terrorists.

The LeT leaders who were Wednesday declared terrorists by the Security Council are Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, Haji Muhammad Ashraf, and Mohmoud Mohammad Ahmed Bahaziq. Except for the last one, all are Pakistani nationals.

India says Saeed, the LeT head, is the mastermind of the Nov 26 Mumbai terror attacks that killed at least 179 people, including several foreigners. While Lakhvi is the chief of operations of LeT, Ashraf is the chief of finances of the terrorist organisatiation, which was declared a terrorist organisation by the UN in 2002.

India-born Saudi national Bahaziq raised money for the LeT in Saudi Arabia. Frontal organisations of the banned Al Rashid and Al Akhtar trusts, which raised funds for LeT, have also been included in the Security Council's terror list.

India had requested the UN to ban the Jamat-ud-Dawah and Saeed, while the request for rest of the terrorists and organisations came from the US.

With this, the onus is now on Islamabad to take immediate action against those included in the list by the UN Security Council's Al Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions Committee.

Richard Barrett, coordinator for Al Qaeda Taliban Monitoring Team, told IANS that the sanctions come into effect immediately. With this, Pakistan is expected to take action against them immediately, which include freezing of their assets, a ban on their foreign travel and arms embargo.

Since all the members of the Al Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions Committee have veto power, the decision was taken by consensus. All the 15 members of the Security Council are the members of this sub-committee.

In the three previous attempts to include the Jamat-ud-Dawah in the list, China had opposed the request. But not this time, given the concrete supportive documents provided by India and the US about the group's role in the Mumbai terror attacks.

At a Security Council meeting convened Tuesday to debate terrorism, Indian Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed said: "The Jamat-ud-Dawah and other such organisations need to be proscribed internationally and effective sanctions imposed against them."

Soon thereafter, the Pakistani Ambassador to the UN Abdullah Hussain Haroon told the Security Council that his country would take action against the Jamat-ud-Dawah, including freezing its assets if it was designated a terrorist organisation.

"The government of Pakistan has already initiated investigations on its own pertaining to the allegations of involvement of persons and entities in the Mumbai attacks," he said.

"After the designation by the Indian government of the Jamat-ud-Dawah under 1267, the (Pakistani) government upon receiving this instruction shall proscribe the JuD and take under consequential action as required including the freezing of assets," Haroon added.

Indo-Asian News Service