Pakistan blacklists Charities Linked to Hafiz Saeed
Pakistan has amended its anti-terrorism law that authorizes the government to blacklist charities linked to Islamist leader Hafiz Saeed.
Pakistan has amended its anti-terrorism law that authorizes the government to blacklist charities linked to Islamist leader Hafiz Saeed.
Two charities run by Saeed — Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and the Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) — have been outlawed by the U.N. Security Council for being “terrorist fronts” for Lashkar-e-Taiba, a group Saeed founded 30 years ago that has been blamed for the 2008 deadly attacks in India’s financial capital of Mumbai. VOA reported.
Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain last week quietly approved the amendments to the law, which the government only made public Monday.
On the other hand, Washington has offered a $10 million reward for bringing Saeed to justice and warned Islamabad of repercussions in November after a Pakistani court freed the cleric from months of house arrest.
The amended anti-terrorism law that was made public would also enable authorities to list two other charities in the country — Al-Akhtar Trust and Al-Rashid Trust — that the U.N. has designated terrorist groups because of their links to al-Qaida.
This comes as India has long demanded Pakistan try and punish Saeed for planning the 2008 bloodshed.
Under the pressure of the United States, Pakistan moved to boycott charities linked to that country’s based-terror organizations.
