26/11 Terrorist Sajid Mir Not To Be Blacklisted?

As the third such action by Beijing in the past four months, China has blocked a proposal by the US and India to blacklist prominent Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant Sajid Mir, the lead planner of the fatal 2008 Mumbai attacks and one of India’s most sought terrorists.

It has been reported that Beijing blocked the US and Indian-led effort to have Mir listed as a global terrorist by the UN Security Council’s 1267 Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee and subject to asset freezes, travel restrictions, and arms embargoes on Thursday.

The US has set a $5 million bounty on Mir’s head for his involvement in the LeT terrorists from Pakistan who carried out the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, making him one of India’s most wanted terrorists.

He was sentenced to more than 15 years in prison in June by a Pakistani anti-terrorism court in a case involving the financing of terrorism. Pakistan is currently working to get off the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)’s (Paris-based) “grey list.”

Although Pakistani authorities had previously said that Mir had died, Western countries had not been persuaded and had demanded proof of his passing. This issue came up as a major sticking point when FATF evaluated Pakistan’s advancement on the action plan late last year.

Sajid Mir: who is he?
Sajid Mir is a Pakistani native of Lahore and a member of the terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba. Sajid Mir was the chief planner of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, on 26 November 2008. The ‘foreign affairs division of Lashkar-e-Taiba’s international branch was also under Sajid’s management.

Mir, a senior LeT member with connections to Pakistan, is sought in connection with the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai.

According to the US State Department, Mir oversaw the planning, preparation, and implementation of the strikes as LeT’s operations manager.

At the UN last month, the US and India proposed a resolution to blacklist Abdul Rauf Azhar, the brother of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) leader Masood Azhar and a significant member of the terror organisation located in Pakistan. China vetoed the motion. In December 2010, the US placed sanctions on Abdul Rauf Azhar, a Pakistani-born individual.

Beijing, an all-weather ally of Islamabad, has repeatedly delayed the blacklisting of terrorists with ties to Pakistan under the UN Security Council’s sanctions committee.

A joint proposal from India and the US to include terrorist Abdul Rehman Makki in the 1267 Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council was put on hold by a last-minute decision, by China in June of this year.

Makki is a terrorist with a US designation since he is the brother-in-law of Lashkar-e-Taiba leader and 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed. Beijing bluntly blocked the consolidated proposal from New Delhi and Washington to designate Makki as a global terrorist in the 1267 ISIL and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council.

Mir has reportedly been a key LeT member since roughly 2001, according to the US State Department.

In charge of overseeing LeT’s external operations from 2006 to 2011, Mir planned and oversaw several terrorist actions on the organization’s behalf. In addition, between 2008 and 2009, Mir allegedly planned a terrorist attack on a newspaper and its staff in Denmark.

For his involvement in the Mumbai attacks, Mir was accused in the US in April 2011.

In August 2012, the US Department of Treasury designated Mir as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. This classification has several effects, including the blocking of Mir’s US-jurisdictional assets and interests in those assets and a general ban on US citizens conducting any business with Mir.

The FBI has listed Mir as one of its most wanted terrorists. According to information on the State Department website, he is thought to reside in Pakistan.

Proofread & Published By Naveenika Chauhan