First time, Dawood on a Pak list, but denial option open
Dawood, Lashkar-e-Toiba chief Hafiz Saeed, Lashkar’s operations head and 26/11 accused Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi, Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar figure in a list of 88 names, published as a Statutory Regulatory Order by Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Dawood Ibrahim (File) In a bid to escape blacklisting by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Pakistan has effectively ended up acknowledging the presence in the country of fugitive terrorist Dawood Ibrahim, one of the most wanted men in India.
Dawood, Lashkar-e-Toiba chief Hafiz Saeed, Lashkar’s operations head and 26/11 accused Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi, Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar figure in a list of 88 names, published as a Statutory Regulatory Order by Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
All designated terrorists on the list will have no direct access to funds, be able to enter or transit through Pakistan, or be able to procure weapons.
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Dawood, who is accused of the 1993 serial blasts in Mumbai among other terror attacks in India, has long been on India’s most wanted list, but successive Pakistan governments have denied his presence there.
Moving to avoid the FATF blacklist, Pakistan, via the SRO dated August 18, reproduced the terror listing of Dawood by the United Nations Security Council.
In the Pakistan notification, Dawood’s details are provided under serial no. QDi.135 — as in the UNSC list of sanctions — and gives out all his details including his passport numbers, and address in Clifton, Karachi.
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The entry is the same as the UNSC list, which has his aliases, residential address in Karachi (Pakistan) and his passport details (he has 9 Indian passports and 5 Pakistan passports). In all 5 Pakistani passports, the entry says “misuse” — indicating that Pakistan has not provided them through official means.
“As of August 18, 2020, the 1267/1989/2253 ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee has approved the entries specified below to its List of individuals and entities subject to the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo set out in paragraph 1 of Security Council resolution 2368 (2018) adopted under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations,” stated the SRO numbered 741(I)/2020, issued by the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Sources in New Delhi, however, pointed out that this will not mean much since he has not been put on Pakistan’s national terror list — the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA-Schedule IV, Proscribed Persons) List.
Sources said Islamabad has reproduced the UNSC list, hoping to get past the FATF in September. Pakistan has been under scrutiny of the FATF, the global terrorist financing watchdog, for the last two years, and has so far fulfilled only half of the 27-point action plan of the FATF.
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