UN Security Council targets four Lashkar-e-Taiba members for assets freeze

[Naveed Yaseen]

UNITED NATIONS (December 12 2008): The United Nations Security Council sanctions committee on Wednesday targeted four members of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), blaming it for the Mumbai attacks, for assets freeze and other sanctions.

Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, Haji Muhammad Ashraf and Mohmoud Mohammad Ahmed Bahaziq are "subject to the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo," set out in the Security Council resolution 1822 of 2008, said the al Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee.

Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi was one of the two LeT leaders Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Wednesday was arrested. Lakhvi and Zarar Shah, the other detainee, were allegedly key planners of the Mumbai gunmen attack that killed 172 people.

Both are reportedly senior members of the LeT. Indian newspaper claimed that Lakhvi put together the team of gunmen that perpetrated the attack, while Shah allegedly arranged SIM cards and satellite phones used in the November 26-29 siege on India's financial capital.

The sanctions committee also listed the numerous aliases of LeT and two entities that provide it with funds - Al Rashid Trust and Al-Akhtar Trust International - and which are also subject to the UN sanctions. The US State Department said it was "pleased that the (UN sanctions) Committee had decided to move forward on these high-priority designations.

"These actions will limit the ability of known terrorists to travel, acquire weapons, plan, carry out, or raise funds for new terrorist attacks. By their listings, the department said in a statement, the sanctions committee "continues to serve as a tool to help member states deter terrorist activities of al Qaeda and affiliated groups."

Under intense international pressure, Pakistan launched a major operation over the weekend against militant organisations in the country, raiding a camp in Kashmir run by a charity linked to LeT and arresting 15 people. It was not clear if Lakhvi and Shah were among those arrested in the raid. Some of the 15 men are reported to be on a list of people that India last week requested Pakistan to extradite in the wake of the Mumbai attacks.

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