UNSC SANCTIONS COMMITTEE BLACKLISTS LASHKAR’S MAKKI

The ISIL and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council (UNSC) has placed Abdul Rehman Makki, a fundraiser and key planner of the Pakistan-based terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), on its sanctions list.
The move was made possible after China withdrew the “technical hold” that it had imposed last June, when the U.S. and India — then a non-permanent member at the UNSC — tried unsuccessfully to get Makki on the global terror blacklist. Beijing has now argued that the blacklisting is in fact a “recognition” of Pakistan’s record of fighting terrorism.
“Abdul Rehman Makki and other LeT/JuD operatives have been involved in raising funds, recruiting and radicalising youth to violence and planning attacks in India, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K),” said the Committee, explaining the reasons that prompted it to add Makki to the blacklist. The JuD or Jamaat-ud-Dawa is the parent body of the LeT.
During India’s two-year tenure at the UNSC, New Delhi put forth five names for designation under the Sanctions Committee — Abdul Rehman Makki (LeT), Abdul Rauf Asghar (Jaish-e-Mohammed), Sajid Mir, Shahid Mahmood.

UNSC blacklists Makki after China lifts its hold

All five faced a “technical hold” from China, while the other 14 members of the Security Council supported the listing.
“Terrorism is the common enemy of humanity. The 1267 Committee is an important international counterterrorism mechanism,” China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Tuesday, when asked about China’s U-turn and decision to lift its hold.
“The listing of terrorists or terror organisations is conducive to enhancing international counterterrorism cooperation in response to terrorist threats,” he added. “The relevant people have been convicted and sentenced by Pakistan.
The listing also shows Pakistan’s firm combat against terrorism. It is a recognition.”
India and the U.S. have already listed Makki as a terrorist under their respective laws and had jointly proposed that the UNSC’s Committee blacklist him on June 1, 2022, which China blocked.
On Tuesday, the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Arindam Bagchi welcomed the decision of the Committee and said, “Threats from terrorist organisations in the region remain high and listings and sanctions by the UNSC are an effective tool to curb such threats.”

SOURCE: THE HINDU, THE ECONOMIC TIMES, PIB

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