China on Monday defended its attempt to block the US-India proposal at the UN to blacklist one of Pakistan’s most-wanted Indian LeT terrorists, Sajid Mir, saying its action was in line with ” Relevant Rules” of the United Nations Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee.
I have a $5 million bounty on my head from the US for his role in the 11/26 Mumbai terrorist attack by Pakistan’s Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists.
Beijing is known on Thursday to shelve a US-led and Indian-led proposal to blacklist and subdue Mir under the 1267 Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) as a global terrorist has asset freeze, travel ban and arms embargo.
The UN Security Council’s 1267 Committee has clear guidelines on the designation of terrorist organizations and individuals and related procedures, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said at a news conference when asked why Beijing was taking the move blacklist blocked by me.
“China always participates constructively and responsibly in the committee’s work in strict accordance with these rules and procedures,” she said
Asked if there is a timeline for the lifting of the technical lock on Mir’s listing, Mao said, “China’s actions in the committee are in line with relevant rules and procedures.”
“China will continue to participate in the work constructively and responsibly in the future,” she said.
Last month Beijing defended its move to block the US-India proposal at the UN to blacklist Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) deputy chief Abdul Rauf Azhar, saying , it needs more time to consider the application.
In June of this year, Mir was sentenced to over 15 years in prison in a terrorist financing case by an anti-terrorist court in Pakistan fighting to be removed from the gray list of the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF). sentenced.
Pakistani authorities have claimed in the past that Mir died, but Western countries remained unconvinced and demanded proof of his death. This issue became a major sticking point in the FATF’s assessment of Pakistan’s action plan late last year.
Mir is a senior member of the Pakistan-based LeT and is wanted in Mumbai for his involvement in the November 2008 terrorist attacks.
Mir was LeT’s operations manager for the attacks and played a leading role in their planning, preparation and execution, the US State Department said.
Last month, China withheld a US-India proposal at the United Nations to blacklist Abdul Rauf Azhar, brother of Jaish-e Mohammed (JEM) chief Masood Azhar and a senior leader of the Pakistan-based terrorist organization . Born in Pakistan in 1974, Rauf was sanctioned by the US in December 2010.
Beijing, an all-weather friend of Islamabad, has repeatedly withheld lists of Pakistan-based terrorists on the UN Security Council Sanctions Committee’s blacklist.
In June this year, China withheld at the last moment a joint proposal by India and the United States to add Pakistan-based terrorist Abdul Rehman Makki to the UN Security Council’s 1267 al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee.
Makki is a US-designated terrorist and brother-in-law to Lashkar-e-Taiba boss and 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed.
New Delhi and Washington had made a joint proposal to designate Makki as a global terrorist under the UN Security Council’s ISIL and Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of 1267, but Beijing withheld that proposal at the last minute.
The US State Department had said Mir had been a senior member of LeT since around 2001.
From 2006 to 2011, Mir was responsible for LeT’s external operations, planning and directing various terrorist attacks on behalf of the group.
In addition, Mir is said to have conspired to carry out a terrorist attack against a newspaper and its employees in Denmark between 2008 and 2009.
Mir was indicted in the US in April 2011 for his role in the Mumbai attack.
In August 2012, the US Treasury Department designated Mir as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.
As a result of this eviction, among other things, all of Me’s assets and interests in property subject to US jurisdiction will be frozen and US persons will generally be prohibited from transacting with Me.
I’m on the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorist List. According to information on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, he is believed to be in Pakistan.
(With PTI inputs)
