Political India: Engaging America

The United States Department of the Treasury today said that it had designated two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LET) leaders and founding members, Zafar Iqbal and Hafiz Abdul Salam Bhuttavi, implying an eventual freeze on all U.S.-based assets in their name and a ban on an U.S. entities from engaging with them in any material transactions.

“Zafar Iqbal and Hafiz Abdul Salam Bhuttavi are two of LET's most significant leaders,” said Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David Cohen adding that over the past 20 years, they had been responsible for fundraising, recruitment, and indoctrination of LET operatives.

In a statement the Treasury took the relatively rare step of clearly linking LET to al-Qaeda. It said, “LET is a Pakistan-based terrorist group with links to the al-Qa’ida network and its former leader Osama bin Laden that is responsible for the November 2008 Mumbai attacks and July 2006 Mumbai train bombings.”

The terror outfit itself was designated by the U.S and named a Foreign Terrorist Organisation in December 2001, and was added to the UN 1267 list in May 2005. Further Jamaat-ud-Dawa, an ostensible charity group that is the de facto front of LET was also designated by the U.S. “as an alias of LET... and was added to the UN 1267... list as an alias of LET in December 2008.”

Outlining some of the illicit activities of the designated individuals the Treasury said that Iqbal was a senior leader and co-founder of LET and was once considered LET second-in-command and official responsible for the group’s finances and fundraising activities as of late 2010.

Further Iqbal was said to have played a key role as the director of LET’s education during 2003-2010. In that capacity, the Treasury explained, Iqbal “was involved in recruiting activities on behalf of the group and has prepared the curricula for schools run by LET in Pakistan.”

Linking Iqbal to the a mastermind of the Mumbai attacks beyond a shadow of doubt U.S. officials also said that in 1989 or 1990, Iqbal traveled to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia with LET emir Hafiz Muhammad Saeed to request financial support from Osama bin Laden.

Similarly Bhuttavi was said to have served as the “acting emir” of LET on at least two occasions, including when Saeed was detained in the days after the Mumbai attacks and held until June 2009. “Bhuttavi handled the group’s day-to-day functions during this period,” according to an official statement, which added that he further “helped prepare the operatives for the November

2008 Mumbai attacks by delivering lectures on the merits of martyrdom... and is responsible for LET’s madrassah network [and] organisational base in Lahore, Pakistan.”

Labels: 26/11 Mumbai attacks, Lashkar-e-Taiba leaders

From The Hindu

No decision has been made on the question of whether India will have direct access to David Coleman Headley, the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Robert Blake, said today.

Discussing some of the highlights of his recent trip to the region with journalists Mr. Blake said, “We understand that there is a lot of information that Mr. Headley has, which is of great interest to India, particularly because he was scouting out some possible sites.” In turn the United States had great interest in sharing as much information as it could on that, Mr. Blake added.

Yet he cautioned that although the U.S. Department of Justice was working with the Government of India to discuss the modalities for cooperation on the Headley case, “no decision has been made on that.”

Broader LeT threat

On the other hand in Pakistan Mr. Blake said that among the most important messages that he had conveyed was his view that India was seeking two things: first the “continued prosecution of suspects in custody for the Mumbai bombings”; and second, “progress to curtail cross-border infiltration that is taking place from Pakistan into India.”

Mr. Blake also said that he had urged Pakistan to take action against the Punjab-based groups, such as Lashkar-i-Taiba (LeT), “not only because that is important to India but it is important to the U.S.”

He explained that the LeT now had growing ambition and scope in its activity as shown by the David Headley case. “So we think it is very much in the interest of Pakistan as well to take action against the LeT,” he added, implying that the global nature of the LeT threat may endanger Pakistan’s interests.

The Assistant Secretary further argued that the it was important for Pakistan not to allow any terrorist groups to use Pakistan as a base from which to attack India or any other country. “I made that point not only publicly but also privately with my friends in Pakistan,” he said.

Mr. Blake praised Pakistan for its military action along the Afghan border. “I think an enormous amount has happened in Pakistan, first in Swat, then in South Waziristan, and then the more recent arrests of several senior Taliban leaders.” A lot of important progress has been made, he added, however qualifying that with the statement that there has not been any recent progress with the trials of the Mumbai attacks accused in Pakistan.

Liability and the civil nuclear deal

Reacting to suggestions that India may not pass legislation for absolute liability in line with Committee on Supplementary Compensation Mr. Blake said, “I do not see it as a sticking point. In all of our conversations with the Government of India, they have consistently said they remain committed to fulfilling this commitment under the civilian nuclear deal, to pass the civil liability legislation.”

He admitted that the opposition in India has recently expressed its objections to aspects of that legislation but said that it would be up to the Government of India to figure out how to move forward on this.

India-Iran pipeline project

Regarding the proposed Iran-Pakistan-India oil pipeline proposal Mr. Blake sought to dissuade India and Pakistan from engaging with Iran in this area. “This is a very sensitive time with negotiations with Iran and we would prefer that all countries not conduct such transactions with Iran at this time,” he said.

He said that the reason for this would be that the U.S. view of Iran was that it appeared to be unwilling to uphold its international responsibilities in terms of its alleged nuclear development programme.

Labels: 26/11 Mumbai attacks, David Headley, India, Obama, Robert Blake, US