UN bans Jamaat-ud-Dawa; declares it a terror outfit

The United Nations Security Council has placed sanctions against Pakistan-based Jamaat-ud-Dawa, a front organization for Lashkar-e-Taiba, declaring it a terrorist organization.The Council panel has designated four men linked to the Mumbai attacks as terrorists subject to sanctions. The four men are believed to hold leadership positions in the banned Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba that is accused of orchestrating last month's attacks that left over 180 dead in Mumbai. Designated as terrorists subject to UN sanctions were Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, Lashkar's operations chief; Muhammad Saeed, the group's leader; Haji Muhammad Ashraf, its chief of finance; and Mahmoud Mohammad Ahmed Bahaziq, a financier with the group. The Security Council's al-Qaida and Taliban sanctions committee added them to its list of terrorists subject to the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo under a council resolution adopted this year. The US Treasury Department last week designated the men as terrorists and ordered any US assets frozen. Earlier on Wednesday, in what is being read as the first sign of Pakistan wilting in the face of growing international pressure, Islamabad had said that it will ban Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JUD) the political arm of Lashkar-e-Taiba, which has been recruiting fidayeen killers like the captured terrorist Ajmal if the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) declared JUD a terrorist outfit. The UNSC move marked a global concert against Pakistan because of its failure to carry out its repeated pledges to India and others to crack down on terrorist camps. ``After the designation of Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JUD) under resolution 1267, the government on receiving communication from the Security Council shall proscribe the JUD and take other consequential actions, as required, including the freezing of assets,'' said Abdullah Hussain Haroon, Pakistan's permanent representative in the UN. Sources said that he gave an undertaking to the same effect to the world body on Tuesday. Indian officials seemed satisfied with the impending ban on JUD by Pakistan. Haroon also said that no LeT camp would be allowed to operate from Pakistan. Pakistan's NSA Mahmud Ali Durrani had reiterated on Wednesday that his country would follow all UN resolutions. ``We will follow any UN resolution. There should be no doubt. If our investigations prove the involvement of any organisation in Pakistan, we will definitely ban it,'' Durrani told a news channel. Meanwhile, Pakistan PM Yousaf Raza Gilani confirmed on Wednesday that police had detained Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Zarrar Shah, the two members of LeT whom India has blamed for the attacks in Mumbai. He said that the allegations against them are being looked into.
For the international community—with China being a possible exception—to lean unitedly on Pakistan on action against terror plotters is a clear sign that Islamabad’s protestations of innocence are not carrying conviction in foreign capitals. This also marks the failure of Pakistan’s threat to pull troops away from the Afghan border and deploy them on the Indian border. In a statement before the UNSC, minister of state for foreign affairs E Ahamed made a strong demand for banning the Jamaatud-Dawa (JUD) and like-minded organizations saying “their country of origin needs to take urgent steps to stop their functioning’’. Contrary to expectations, he did not make any direct remarks on Pakistan.Ahamed merely said Kasab’s interrogation had revealed that the terrorists had come from Pakistan. Ahamed said, “When the actions of terrorist groups are used to serve the political interests of states, a deadly combination emerges. A terror machine is created. India has had experience of such machines which need to be eliminated. The nexus between state—or elements within the state—and terror outfits must be broken and groups or individuals that indoctrinate, organize, plan and finance terror have to be uprooted besides other measures.’’ He added that the Mumbai attack was a commando-like operation. Indian officials, however, see this ban as designed more to put pressure on Pakistan rather than having any real effect on the JUD. In 2001, after the Parliament attack, the LeT was banned by Pervez Musharraf but this had little effect. Having renamed itself JUD, the LeT functioned as usual. Saeed was placed under house arrest, but within a year he was out. Officials suspect that since the Mumbai attacks, JUD has already started moving its assets to safer locations. Besides, JUD’s real assets are its institutions, hundreds of schools and their indoctrination. That’s not been touched. This means that the terror factory can continue to function. Other sources say the LeT-JUD, like other terror groups, uses the hawala channel for funds which is also not affected. Ultimately, its links with the ISI remain intact.