iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Monday listed Pakistan-based terrorist Abdul Rehman Makki as a global terrorist under its ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee.
This listing comes after China last year put on India’s bid to name the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) leader a global terrorist. In June 2022, India slammed China after it blocked the proposal to list terrorist Abdul Rehman Makki under the Sanctions Committee, also known as the UNSC 1267 Committee.
“On 16 January 2023, the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) concerning ISIL (Da’esh), Al-Qaida, and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities approved the addition of the entry specified below to its ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions List of individuals and entities subject to the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo set out in paragraph 1 of Security Council resolution 2610 (2021) and adopted under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations,” the UN said in a statement.
India and the US have already listed Makki as a terrorist under their domestic laws. He has been involved in raising funds, recruiting and radicalizing youth to violence and planning attacks in India, especially in Jammu and Kashmir.
Makki is the brother-in-law of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief and 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed. He has occupied various leadership roles within LeT, a US-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). He has also played a role in raising funds for LeT operations.
In 2020, a Pakistani anti-terrorism court convicted Makki on one count of terrorism financing and sentenced him to prison, acccording to the US State Department.
In the past, China has placed hurdles for the listing of known terrorists, particularly from Pakistan. It had repeatedly blocked proposals to designate Maulana Masood Azhar, chief of the Pakistan-based and UN-proscribed terrorist entity, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).
In India, Makki is on the UAPA list of designated terrorists and is wanted in for his involvement in the Red Fort attack in Delhi in 2000, the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, and attacks on security forces in Jammu and Kashmir.
The US has also placed Makki on its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists and has announced a USD 2 million reward for information that would convict him.
When it comes to counter-terrorism, Pakistan has made limited progress on the most difficult aspects of its 2015 National Action Plan, specifically in its pledge to dismantle all terrorist organizations without delay or discrimination, said the US State Department in its 2020 Country Reports on Terrorism.
This listing is seen as a major win for New Delhi after China in June 2022 blocked a joint proposal by India and the US to get the UNSC to list Makki as a global terrorist.
Beijing put a last-minute “technical hold” on the joint proposal to put Makki on the UNSC’s 1267 list of terrorists linked to al Qaeda and ISIL. The move by Beijing was condemned by India as “extremely unfortunate.”
India’s former representative at the UN, Syed Akbaruddin, said the news about Abdul Rehman Makki being designated as a global terrorist by the UN sanctions committee depicts a growing understanding globally that China cannot thwart India and that China’s stranglehold over India’s pursuit of justice is now in vain.
“The news depicts a growing understanding globally that China cannot thwart India. China’s stranglehold over India’s pursuit of justice against those who attacked our people is now in vain,” Akbaruddin said on UN listing Pakistan’s Abdul Rehman Makki as a global terrorist. “Countering terrorism is one of Indian foreign policy’s most important goals,” he said.
Akbaruddin further said that India’s quest for justice for its people against Pakistan-based terrorists would continue. “This is a good success of Indian diplomacy,” the former representative at the UN said.
“It took us more than a decade to designate Masood Azhar and now it has taken us about seven months plus to designate Abdul Rehman Makki. You can see that India is successful in mounting pressure on those who oppose the designation of terrorism,” he added.
UN lists Pak’s Abdul Rehman Makki as global terrorist under UNSC sanctions committee
