China blocks move to sanction LET terrorist, Hafiz son at UNSC
NEW DELHI: China has blocked a joint move by India and the US to sanction Lashkar-e-taiba (LET) leaders Talha Saeed and Shahid Mahmood at the United Nations Security Council, taking the total number of terrorist designations it has stymied since June to five.
As a permanent member of the Security Council, China used a so-called “technical hold” to stop the listing of Saeed, the son of LET founder Hafiz Saeed, and Mahmood as global terrorists, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.
This was the same measure used by China to block India-us proposals to designate LET leader Abdul Rehman Makki in June, Jaish-e-mohammed (JEM) leader Abdul Rauf Azhar in August, and LET operative Sajid Mir in September. A “technical hold” can last for up to six months at a time under the Security Council’s procedures, and it effectively blocks terrorist designation proposals until the measure is withdrawn.
India designated Saeed as a terrorist in April this year, while he was listed as a global terrorist by the US treasury department in August 2012. At that time, the US described Saeed has been a “prominent leader within LET since early 2005”.
Besides running Let’s radio operations and working for its main magazine, Saeed travelled extensively across Pakistan to speak on behalf of the organisation. He was responsible for recruiting members for LET and was part of the group’s “executive board” in the foreign relations department. In late 2007, Saeed was part of a LET team that travelled to West Asia seeking support.
Mahmood was designated a “specially designated global terrorist” by the US treasury department in December 2016, and India and the US had proposed his listing under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council. According to US authorities, Mahmood has had a significant role in Let’s overseas operations, including in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Syria and Turkey.
China’s move came even as UN Secretary-general Antonio Guterres participated in a ceremony in Mumbai to pay tribute to victims of the terrorist attacks in India’s financial hub in November 2008 that was carried out by a 10-member team of the LET.
While listing Mahmood as a global terrorist in 2016, the US treasury department said the Karachi-based LET leader was affiliated with the group since 2007 and had served during 2015-16 as vice chairman of the Falah-e-insaniyat Foundation, which has been designated as a front for the LET by the US and the UN.
On China blocking efforts by India and its partners to sanction Pakistan-based terrorists at the UNSC, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said in September that the listing of terrorists is done as these individuals are a threat to the international community.