Lahore: Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) deputy chief Abdul Rehman Makki has released a video from Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail, denying any links with Al-Qaeda. Makki said in the video, “I believe the basis of my listing is based on heresy and misinformation by the Indian government. I have never met Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri or Abdullah Azam, as claimed by some propaganda reports.” I have been accused of.”
Makki also condemned al-Qaeda’s ideas and actions, saying they were the exact opposite of what they believed in. Kashmir…,” he said.
Expressing regret over the UNSC’s decision, he said, “Neither due process was followed nor information was given regarding these listings.” Notably, India’s relentless efforts to list Pakistan-based terrorists paid in the form of makki were finally listed as ‘Global Terrorists’.
According to sources, India had made the list of Pakistan-based terrorists a top priority during its UN tenure during 2021-22. A total of five names were submitted by India for designation under 1267 in 2022: Abdul Rehman Makki (LeT), Abdul Rauf Asghar (Jaish-e-Mohammed, JeM), Sajid Mir (LeT), Shahid Mehmood (LeT), and Talha Saeed (LeT). Each of these five names was initially placed on technical hold by one member state, while all other 14 members of the council agreed to their listing.
Makki’s case was presented by India on June 1, 2022, with the US joining as a co-designated state. According to sources, a member state imposed a technical moratorium on June 16, 2022 and renewed the hold again in mid-December after a period of six months.
Even though the successful listing comes just after India left the council, it was the culmination of long-standing and sustained efforts over the last several months by partner countries as well.
Earlier on Tuesday, China lifted its ‘technical hold’ on Makki’s designation as a global terrorist under the 1267 UN Sanctions Committee after the country was left isolated in the Security Council. The list comes after China last year put a ‘technical hold’ on India’s bid to designate the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) leader as a global terrorist.
In June 2022, India criticized China after it blocked a 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 on ISIL (Da’esh), Al-Qaeda, and Related Individuals, Groups, Undertakings and Entities, pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) approved it. Subject to the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo set forth in paragraph 1 of Security Council resolution 2610 (2021) and adopted, in addition to the entry specified below in its ISIL (Da’esh) and al-Qaida Sanctions List 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 youths to violence and planning attacks in India, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir.
Makki has held various leadership roles within Lashkar, a US-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), while also playing a role in raising funds for Lashkar’s operations.
According to the US State Department, in 2020, a Pakistani anti-terrorism court convicted Makki on a terrorism financing count and sentenced him to prison.