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| India-Pakistan |
| Jamaat-ud-Dawa criticizes UN |
| 2008-12-12 |
| Pakistan's Jamaat-ud-Dawa puts up a defiant stance as the United Nations declares it a front for terrorists and freezes its assets. Hafiz Saeed, the chief of the banned out-fit claims that it was concerned by the international clampdown and would contact the UN to clear its position as it has frozen its assets, imposed travel ban and an arms embargo, our Press TV correspondent reported from Islamabad on Thursday. The Pakistani government has also decided to proscribe Jamaat-ud-Dawa, suspected of having links to militants in the Mumbai attacks, Information Minister Sherry Rehman said, adding that the government was deliberating what action to take against the group in the wake of the UN decision. Reacting to the ban, Saeed said his group has never been involved in terrorist activities and its main focus remains essentially on humanitarian aid activities and education. He said his group was not involved in the Mumbai carnage but said his organization would admit its mistakes provided it was proved that it was in any way linked to the attacks, which left a trail of death and destruction. He said the allegations leveled by India against his group at the UN were baseless and unfounded. India has always resorted to propaganda against his group, our correspondent quoted him as saying. There was no operation on the part of any Jamat-ud-Dawa office. As far as Zakiur Rehman (Lakhvi) is concerned, he is a leader of a Kashmiri group. He should not be linked to Jamaat-ud-Dawa, he said. The Jamaat chief said he had never met or seen Ajmal Amir, the lone gunman captured alive by Indian security forces during the Mumbai attacks. Hafiz Saeed led the Lashkar-e-Taiba until December 2001, when he quit a few days before Pakistan complied with a UN move to put the group on a list of individuals and organizations with links to al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Saeed founded the Lashkar in 1990. Saeed, one of the most wanted men in India, has since headed Jamaat-ud-Dawa, a charity organization, which analysts and diplomats regard it as a front for Lashkar to fight Indian rule in Indian Kashmir. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Pfft. If they were clever they would've just banned the United Nations & frozen their assets in the Pakistani outback. That would've shown 'em. |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2008-12-12 10:55 |