US designates 'LeT alias' Milli Muslim League as terrorist organisation
April 03, 2018
WASHINGTON: The United States said Monday night it had added the Milli Muslim League (MML) and Tehreek-e-Azadi-e-Kashmir (TAJK) to its list of Foreign Terrorist Organisations (FTO), reasoning that both were fronts for banned terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
"The aliases [MML and TAJK] have been added to LeT’s designations as an FTO under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under Executive Order 13224," the US State Department website said.
In a statement, Ambassador Nathan Sales, the coordinator for counterterrorism at the department, explained that the Monday revisions “show that the US government is not fooled by Lashkar-e-Taiba’s efforts to circumvent sanctions and deceive the public about its true character".
Both the MML and TAJK were different names of the same banned terrorist outfit, Sales said, adding that regardless of its attempts to create new facades, it would not be able to hide from the US.
“Make no mistake: whatever LeT chooses to call itself, it remains a violent terrorist group.
"The United States supports all efforts to ensure that LeT does not have a political voice until it gives up violence as a tool of influence,” it added.
The LeT's "leader, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, is also designated as an SDGT".
Pakistan's Western ally, with which relations have recently become quite bumpy, noted that American citizens were prohibited from engaging in any type of deal with either of these groups.
"US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with the group," the statement on the website mentioned.
It added that financial sanctions have been imposed on both the MML and TAJK, saying the "designations seek to deny LeT the resources it needs to plan and carry out further terrorist attacks".
"Among other consequences of the designations, LeT’s property and interests in property subject to US jurisdiction are blocked," it said.
By changing guises, the LeT has attempted to fool the people of Pakistan as well as the global fraternity, the US said, stressing that it hopes it was clear that no matter what mask the banned terrorist organisation considers wearing, it would remain labelled as a terrorist group.
At the same time, however, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced its decision to include seven members of the MML’s top brass to the SDGT list.
"Concurrently with today’s State Department actions, the US Department of the Treasury designated seven members of the MML central leadership body for acting for or on behalf of LeT," the statement said.
It specified that members who were designated as SDGTs include "Saifullah Khalid, Muzammil Iqbal Hashimi, Muhammad Harris Dar, Tabish Qayyuum, Fayyaz Ahmad, Faisal Nadeem, and Muhammad Ehsan".
According to the Treasury Department's website, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Sigal Mandelker said: “Treasury is targeting the Milli Muslim League and a group of seven global terrorists who are complicit in Lashkar-e Tayyiba’s attempts to undermine Pakistan’s political process.”
"We will continue to target terrorist organizations like Lashkar-e Tayyiba, even when they attempt to cloak themselves as political parties or hide their extremism behind other facades.
"Those working with the Milli Muslim League, including providing financial donations, should think twice about doing so or risk exposure to US sanctions.”
MML's foray into Pakistani politics
The MML was formed last year and made an impressive show at the NA-120 by-election in Lahore, where its supported candidate gained the fourth place. Candidates backed by the party — since it is yet to be registered as a political party — have made similar gains in subsequent by-elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
At present, the MML is struggling to get itself registered as a political party.
On Monday, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) directed the party to first obtain a security clearance certificate from the Interior Ministry after which the matter will proceed further.
The commission had earlier rejected the party's plea to get registered on the ground that its supremo, Hafiz Saeed, is a globally listed terrorist whereas organisations run under his influence, Jamaatud Dawa and Falah-i-Insaniyat Foundation, were designated as banned organisations via a presidential ordinance.
That decision of the ECP was overturned by the Islamabad High Court which directed it to hear the party's plea properly and then decide the case.
Moreover, Saeed has challenged in the Lahore High Court the government's action against his charitable organisation.
Prior designations by US
Early February, the US had named three Pakistanis as key "terrorist facilitators", saying they worked closely with a well-known backer of Al-Qaeda, LeT, and the Taliban leader known as Shaykh Aminullah.
The Treasury Department placed Rahman Zeb Faqir Muhammad, Hizb Ullah Astam Khan, and Dilawar Khan Nadir Khan on its SDGT blacklist "in an effort to disrupt the group's ability to obtain and distribute financing".
All three were tied to Shaykh Aminullah, who has been on international terror blacklists since 2009, as per US officials, who allege that Aminullah turned the Ganj seminary — a boys school in Peshawar — into a training and recruiting base by the Taliban, LeT, and Al-Qaeda.
The three men were involved in providing financial and logistical support, explosives, and technological aid to the three Pakistan- and Afghanistan-based extremist groups, it said.
