New York: China has blocked the bid to designate Talha Saeed, son of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed, as an UN-listed terrorist, in what was the fifth time this year that Beijing put a hold on the listing of a Pakistan-based terrorist at the UN.
Incidentally, the decision by China came hours after blocking the listing of another LeT member Shahid Mahmood as a “global terrorist”.
India moved the proposal at the United Nations, co-supported by the US, to designate Hafiz Talha Saeed, son of Mumbai mastermind Hafiz Saeed under the 1267 sanction regime.
Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed’s son Hafiz Talha Saeed has been declared a designated terrorist by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
In a notification dated April 8, the MHA said Hafiz Talha Saeed was a senior leader of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and head of the cleric wing of the terror outfit. Talha Saeed has been “actively involved in recruitment, fund collection, planning and executing attacks by LeT in India and Indian interests in Afghanistan.”
It is the fifth time that China has blocked an India-US proposal in recent months, Lashkar-e-Taiba member Shahid Mahmood in October, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist Sajid Mir in September, LeT and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) leader Abdul Rehman Makki in June, as well as Abdul Rauf Azhar in August, the brother of Jaish-e Mohammed (JEM) chief Masood Azhar, were protected by Beijing.
Earlier, in September, China blocked the proposal of designating Sajid Mir as a “global terrorist.” Mir is a top Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) commander and is in charge of the “India Setup” of LeT.
Sajid Mir is one of the masterminds of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. He was responsible for the largest ever overseas LeT terror attack resulting in the death of nationals of several countries including India and Western countries.
Shahid Mahmood has served as the vice chairman of Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FIF), a humanitarian and fundraising arm of LeT. FIF was designated as an alias for LeT. In 2014, Mahmood was the leader of FIF in Karachi. In August 2013, Mahmood was identified as a LeT publications wing member, according to the US Department of Treasury.
In August 2012, Mahmood, while in charge of the Sindh, Pakistan chapter of FIF, led a LeT delegation to Burma, and in mid-2014, he travelled to Syria and Turkey and was subsequently appointed to lead FIF efforts in both countries. Mahmood has also travelled to Bangladesh and Gaza on behalf of FIF.
Mahmood was previously part of LeT’s overseas operations team led by Sajid Mir. Additionally, in August 2013, Mahmood was instructed to forge covert links with Islamic organizations in Bangladesh and Burma. As of late 2011, Mahmood claimed that LeT’s primary concern should be attacking India and America.
In 2016, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated two of the LeT’s senior leaders, Muhammad Sarwar (Sarwar) and Shahid Mahmood (Mahmood), as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs) pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13224.
Sarwar and Mahmood are designated for acting for or on behalf of LeT, a terrorist organization based in Pakistan. All property and interests in the property of Sarwar and Mahmood subject to US jurisdiction are now blocked, and US citizens are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.
In December 2001, the US Department of State designated LeT as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in accordance with section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended, and as an SDGT pursuant to E.O. 13224. LeT was added to the UN 1267/1989 Committee’s Consolidated List – its list of sanctioned terrorists – in May 2005.
