China blocks India-US proposal to designate, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) member Mahmood as 'global terrorist'

NEW YORK: China has, for the fourth time, put a hold on a proposal moved at the United Nations by India and co-supported by the US to list Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba member Shahid Mahmood as a "global terrorist".

The US and India moved the proposal on Wednesday to blacklist Mahmood under the 1267 Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council as a global terrorist. It is the fourth time that China has blocked an India-US proposal in recent months after Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist Sajid Mir, LeT and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) leader Abdul Rehman Makki, as well as Abdul Rauf Azhar, the brother of Jaish-e Mohammed (JEM) chief Masood Azhar, were protected by Beijing.

Earlier, in September, China blocked the proposal of designating Sajid Mir as a "global terrorist." Mir is a top Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) commander and is in charge of the "India Setup" of LeT.

Sajid Mir is one of the masterminds of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. He was responsible for the largest ever overseas LeT terror attack resulting in the death of nationals of several countries including India and Western countries.

Shahid Mahmood has served as the vice chairman of Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FIF), a humanitarian and fundraising arm of LeT. FIF was designated as an alias for LeT. In 2014, Mahmood was the leader of FIF in Karachi. In August 2013, Mahmood was identified as a LeT publications wing member, according to the US Department of Treasury.

In August 2012, Mahmood, while in charge of the Sindh, Pakistan chapter of FIF, led a LeT delegation to Burma, and in mid-2014, he travelled to Syria and Turkey and was subsequently appointed to lead FIF efforts in both countries. Mahmood has also travelled to Bangladesh and Gaza on behalf of FIF.

Mahmood was previously part of LeT's overseas operations team led by Sajid Mir. Additionally, in August 2013, Mahmood was instructed to forge covert links with Islamic organizations in Bangladesh and Burma, and as of late 2011, Mahmood claimed that LeT's primary concern should be attacking India and America.

In 2016, the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated two of the LeT's senior leaders, Muhammad Sarwar (Sarwar) and Shahid Mahmood (Mahmood), as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs) pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13224.

Sarwar and Mahmood are being designated for acting for or on behalf of LeT, a terrorist organization based in Pakistan. All property and interests in the property of Sarwar and Mahmood subject to US jurisdiction are now blocked, and US citizens are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.

In December 2001, the US Department of State designated LeT as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in accordance with section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended, and as an SDGT pursuant to E.O. 13224. LeT was added to the UN 1267/1989 Committee's Consolidated List - its list of sanctioned terrorists - in May 2005. (ANI)

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