Pakistan declares Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed a terrorist
New Delhi, Feb 13 (IBNS) Hafiz Saeed, the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack mastermind and one of the most wanted by India, has been declared a terrorist by Pakistan, media reports said.
According to Dawn, President Mamnoon Hussain on Friday quietly approved an amendment to the existing law in the form of an ordinance that brings all individuals and organisations banned by the United Nations Security Council, like Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jamaat-ud-Dawah, and Harkat-ul Mujahideen, under the ambit of the amended Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), 1997 of the country.
Two charities run by Saeed — Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and the Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) — have been outlawed by the U.N. Security Council for being "terrorist fronts" for Lashkar-e-Taiba, a group Saeed founded 30 years ago.
This means that now, under Pakistani law, Saeed is a terrorist, and the JuD is a terrorist organisation.
The move enables Islamabad to take action against groups and individuals banned by the UNSC - that includes sealing their offices and freezing their bank accounts.
The promulgation of the ordinance was made public on Monday.
Islamabad's move comes a week before the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on terror financing holds a crucial meeting in Paris to assess Pakistan's efforts to choke funding sources to terrorist groups, including those linked to Saeed.
Washington has offered a $10 million reward for bringing Saeed to justice and warned Islamabad of repercussions in November after a Pakistani court freed the cleric from months of house arrest, citing a lack of evidence linking him to the Mumbai attacks.
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