Pakistan party linked to Mumbai attacks rips US blacklisting
A Pakistan political party linked to the alleged mastermind of the Mumbai attacks blasted Washington on Tuesday for violating the country’s ‘sovereignty and constitution’, hours after the United States blacklisted the group.
The move by the US comes as the White House continues to ratchet up pressure on Islamabad to crack down on extremist groups operating in the country after suspending military aid to Pakistan in January for inaction.
The Milli Muslim League (MML) was launched last August by Hafiz Saeed’s Jamaatud-Dawa (JuD) - the charity wing of militant group Lashkar-eTaiba (LeT).
LeT is accused of masterminding the 2008 Mumbai attacks that left nearly 166 people dead and brought nuclear-armed India and Pakistan to the brink of war.
Since launching, the MML has struggled to officially register with Pakistan’s Election Commission over its links to JuD.
The task is likely to be harder after the US State Department amended its designation of LeT on Monday to include the political party.
“(The) US has no right to intervene in Pakistan’s internal political matters and label terror allegations against people who themselves are against extremism,” said MML’s information secretary Tabish Qayyum.
“Such designations are aimed to undermine Pakistan’s sovereignty and constitution,” Qayyum said.
The decision comes after Pakistani officials began seizing assets from JuD in February.
The crackdown followed a vote by members of the Financial Action Task Force - a global antimoney laundering watchdog - to place Pakistan on its grey list of nations which are not doing enough to combat terror financing in June.
Saeed, who operates freely in Pakistan despite a US$10mn US bounty on his head, has denied involvement in terrorism and the Mumbai attacks.