NEW DELHI: As many as 139 Pakistanis figure in the updated list of people designated as 'terrorists' by the The United Nations Security Council's (UNSC). Many of the terrorists are from the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). These 139 are identified as individuals who have lived in Pakistan or have operated from the country or have been associated with groups that used Pakistani territory for their operations.
Included in the list are fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim and 26/11 Mumbai terror mastermind Hafiz Saeed. According to UN, Dawood has held several Pakistani passports issued in Rawalpindi and Karachi. It also said that he owns a “palatial bungalow in the hilly area of Noorabad, Karachi.” Saeed, also a founder of LeT, is joined on the list by Haji Mohammed Yahya Mujahid, LeT's 'media contact', and two people known as his deputies, Abdul Salaam and Zafar Iqbal. All three are also wanted by Interpol.
The UNSC has listed LeT as well as its various affiliates, including al-Mansoorian, Paasban-i-Kashmir, Paasban-i-Ahle Hadith, Jamaat-ud Dawa and Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation. In fact, a few days back the US put another Saeed organisation, his political arm Milli Muslim League, on its list of designated terror outfits.
On top of the UN's terrorists list is al Qaida's Ayman al-Zawahiri, who was 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden's number two man. The UN said al-Zawahiri is still hiding somewhere "in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area", reported Dawn.
Number two on the list is Ramzi Mohammad bin al-Sheibah, who's identified as a Yemeni national, and who was arrested in Karachi and handed over to the US. Other terrorist outfits the UN says are based in Pakistan or linked to Pakistanis include Al Rasheed Trust, Harkatul Mujahideen, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Wafa Humanitarian Organisation, JeM, 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.
Box
Pak plans to ban JuD, other terror groups
Islamabad : Pakistan is working on a draft bill to permanently ban Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ud-Dawa and other terror groups and individuals on the watch list of the interior ministry, a move which has the backing of the military establishment. The bill will replace the presidential ordinance that banned outfits and people already on the watch list of the interior ministry, Pakistani daily Dawn reported.
The paper reported that the proposed draft bill to amend the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), 1997 was likely to be tabled in the upcoming session of the National Assembly. The law ministry was involved in the process for the purpose of vetting the proposed draft bill, the sources said, adding that the military establishment was also on board. The government decided to prepare a draft bill to amend the ATA as part of its damage-control campaign after the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) approved a nomination proposal tabled jointly by the US, the UK, France and Germany to place Pakistan on the international watchdog’s money-laundering and terror-financing grey list in February.
