UN lists Pakistan-based militant leader as global terrorist

Islamabad, Jan 17 (EFE).- The United Nations Security Council has listed a Pakistan-based Islamist militant as a global terrorist a year after China blocked the move by India and the United States.

Abdur Rehman Makki, one of the top leaders of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant group, blamed by India for insurgent activities in the disputed Kashmir region, was listed by the UN on Monday.

The militant leader was arrested in May 2019 by the Pakistani government and was under house arrest in Lahore.

In 2020, a Pakistani court convicted him of terrorism financing and sentenced him to prison.

Makki, who coordinated the LeT’s political affairs, was listed for “raising funds, recruiting and radicalizing youth to violence and planning attacks in India, particularly in Kashmir,” a UNSC statement said.

Wanted by India, Makki is the brother-in-law of LeT chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, the alleged mastermind of a militant attack on Mumbai that killed 166 people in 2008.

The UN statement said Makki was involved in the four-day Mumbai carnage for which Saeed, a known firebrand Islamist cleric, is serving jail terms in Pakistan.

India and the US had already listed Makki as a terrorist under their domestic laws.

Last year, China blocked the UN move proposed by India and the US to list the Pakistani militant leader as a designated terrorist.

The UN move has led to assets freeze, a travel ban, and an arms embargo against the militant leader. EFE

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