Published 16:14 IST, July 12th 2020
Pakistan restores bank accounts of 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed and 4 other terrorists
In yet another blatant display of supporting terror, sources report on Sunday that Pakistan has restored the bank accounts of Hafiz Saeed & 4 other terrorists
In yet another blatant display of supporting terror, sources report on Sunday that Pakistan has restored the bank accounts of 5 Jamaat-ud-Dawa and LeT terrorists including Hafiz Saeed. The 26/11 mastermind - Saeed has been lodged in Kot Lakhpat jail for terror financing. Apart from Saeed, the other four terrorists - Abdul Salam Bhuttavi, Haji M Ashraf, Yahya Mujahid, and Zafar Iqbal who all face terror sanctions are also sentenced to jail for terror financing. Indian agencies have reportedly said that Pakistan has helped these terrorists to file an application before the United Nations.
Saeed's 4 aides indicted for terror financing
On June 9, an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan indicted four top leaders of the banned Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) and close aides of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed in a terror-financing case. The court indicted Hafiz Abdul Rehman Makki, Malik Zafar Iqbal, Yayha Aziz and Abdul Salam, but all four accused pleaded "not guilty" and chose to contest the trial. The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab police had registered 23 FIRs against 70-year-old Saeed and his accomplices on the charges of terror financing in different cities of the province.
Hafiz Saeed conviction and FATF meet
Ahead of the FATF plenary meet, on February 12, the 26/11 mastermind, Hafiz Saeed was convicted under ATA Section 11-F (2) and 11-N. Additionally, he has been slapped with a fine of Rs15,000 in each case. This came even after the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Lahore accepted his plea to club all the pending cases against him and then announce the verdict. The 26/11 mastermind and UN-designated terrorist Hafiz Saeed had pleaded not guilty, but was convicted and sent to high-security Kot Lakhpat jail in Pakistan.
Saeed's JuD is the front organisation for the Lashkar-e-Taiba which is responsible for carrying out the 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people, including six Americans. Saeed, a UN-designated terrorist also has a 10 million USD bounty placed on him by the American government in 2012. He was listed as a terrorist under the UN Security Council Resolution 1267 in December 2008.
Pakistan which is already placed in the greylist by FATF- a Paris-based global terror-financing watchdog, is looking to avoid the blacklist. In an attempt to show 'action' on terrorism, it has convicted Saeed, who may be released post-FATF meet as per reports. Moreover, after avoiding the FATF blacklist, Pakistan allegedly 'lost' Pakistani terrorist Masood Azhar - the mastermind of the 2019 Pulwama terror attack - and his family.
Updated 16:14 IST, July 12th 2020