Alice Wells, head of the US state department’s South and Central Asian bureau said that Pakistan must prevent militant groups from operating on its soil and prosecute top Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives along with its leader Hafiz Saeed. She made this statement ahead of the Financial Action Task Force’s crucial decision on whether to blacklist the country or not.
She also mentioned about the four arrests Pakistan has made. These are the top four leaders of Lashkar-e-Taiba /Jamaat-ud-Dawah in Pakistan, identified as Professor Zafar Iqbal, Yahya Aziz, Muhammad Ashraf and Abdul Salam.
“As Prime Minister Imran Khan has said, Pakistan, for its own future, must prevent militant groups from operating on its soil,” Wells tweeted. “We welcome news that Pakistan arrested 4 #LeT leaders. The victims of LeT’s vicious attacks deserve to see these individuals prosecuted now, along with LeT leader Hafiz Saeed,” she said.
Wells’ remarks came a few days ahead of FATF’s decision on Pakistan’s ‘grey list’ status. Pakistan was placed on the grey list by them in June last year and was given a plan of action to complete by October 2019, or face the risk of being placed on the black list with Iran and North Korea. The ongoing review of Pakistan’s performance will determine if it stays on the grey list or moves to the black list or is given a clean chit.
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This is not the first time that she has urged Pakistan to backlist known terrorists. Earlier last month she asked Pakistan to prosecute terrorists like Saeed and Masood Azhar, saying the reduction of the Indo-Pak tensions would depend on Islamabad’s seriousness in taking action against those who engage in “cross-border infiltration”. Tensions between the two countries have spiked since India abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019.
India’s decision evoked strong reactions from Pakistan, which downgraded diplomatic ties and expelled the Indian ambassador. Pakistan has been trying to internationalise the Kashmir issue but New Delhi has asserted that it is and will always remain an internal matter.
The US Department of the Treasury has designated Saeed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. The US, since 2012, has been offering a USD 10 million reward for information that brings Saeed to justice. Saeed-led JuD is believed to be the front face for LeT which is responsible for carrying out the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people.