EYE ON PAKISTAN
US targets
LeT leaders
AZIZ HANIFFA
The Obama administration continued to tighten the noose
around the Pakistan-based, Inter Services Intelligence-supported terrorist organization the Lashkar-e-Tayiba by
sanctioning two of its leaders and founding members,
Zafar Iqbal and Hafiz Abdul Salam Bhuttavi.
The State Department designated the LeT as a Foreign
Terrorist Organization in December 2001, but last week,
the Department of Treasury threw the book at Iqbal and
Bhuttavi, saying they are ‘two of LeT’s most significant
leaders.’
‘Over the past 20 years, Iqbal and Bhuttavi have been
responsible for fundraising, recruitment, and indoctrina-
tion of operatives,’ said David S Cohen, under secretary for
terrorism and financial intelligence. ‘By targeting the core
of Le T’s leadership, today’s action aims to degrade its abili-
ty to facilitate its terrorist activities.’
The Treasury described the Le T as ‘a Pakistan-based ter-
rorist group with links to the Al Qaeda network and its for-
mer leader Osama bin Laden that is responsible for the
November 2008 Mumbai attacks and July 2006 Mumbai
train bombings.’
In May 2005, the LeT was also added onto the United
Nations’ list of international terrorist organizations, and in
April 2006 the State Department designated Jamaat-ud-
Dawa — the ‘social service’ wing of the LeT — also as an
FTO. The JuD was added onto the UN list as an alias of the
Le T in December 2008.
As a result of last week’s Treasury Department action,
Americans are now prohibited from engaging in transactions with Iqbal and Bhuttavi and any assets they may have
in the US are frozen. Washington said that Iqbal has served
in various LeT/JuD senior leadership positions and was
Washington described Lashkar as responsible for the July 2006 Mumbai train bombings, pictured, as well as the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai
PUNI T PARANJPE / REUTERS
once considered the Le T/JuD’s second-in-command. As of
late 2010, the Treasury said, Iqbal was in charge of the
Le T/JuD’s finance department.
The US said Iqbal has also been involved in LeT/JuD
fundraising activities and that in 2008, he was identified as
the Le T/JuD’s chief of fundraising; and in 2010, Iqbal was
overseeing the construction of an Le T/JuD facility.
From 2003 to 2010, the Treasury noted, Iqbal was also
the director of the Le T/JuD’s education department. In this
capacity, he has been involved in recruiting activities on
behalf of the group and has prepared the curricula for
schools run by the LeT/JuD in Pakistan. As of 2010,
according to the Treasury, Iqbal was a joint secretary of a
university trust created by the Le T/JuD to carry out activities on behalf of the group.
Iqbal, Washington said, formed the Le T in the late 1980s
with current LeT/JuD chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, who
was designated as a foreign terrorist by the US in May
2008, and by the UN in December 2008. In 1989 or 1990,
Iqbal traveled to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with Saeed to
request financial support from Osama bin Laden, the
Treasury said.
Bhuttavi, also a founding member of the Le T and deputy
to Saeed, according to the US, has served as the acting
chief of the LeT/JuD on at least two occasions, including
when Saeed was detained in Pakistan after the November
2008 Mumbai attack and held until June 2009. At the
time, Bhuttavi had handled the group’s day-to-day functions. Bhuttavi, according to Washington, also helped prepare the operatives for the November 2008 Mumbai
attacks by delivering lectures on the merits of martyrdom,
and he has issued fatwas authorizing the LeT/JeD’s militant operations, instructed group leaders and members,
and is responsible for Le T/JuD’s madrassanetwork.
In mid-2002, Bhuttavi was in charge of establishing an
Le T/JuD organizational base in Lahore, the Treasury said.
US-Pakistan fallout: Clinton in damage-control mode
;Page A26
because it is. But I also believe strongly that
we have to work together despite those dif-
ficulties.’
Asked if the State Department was close
to designating the Haqqani Network a
Foreign Terrorist Organization and why it
hasn’t already done so, Clinton said, ‘With
respect to the Haqqani Network, we are in
the final formal review that has to be
undertaken to make a government-wide
decision to designate the network as a
Foreign Terrorist Organization.’
She added: ‘But remember, we’ve already
designated the key leaders…We’re going to
continue to work with our Pakistani coun-
terparts to try to root them out and prevent
them from attacking Pakistanis,
Americans, Afghans, or anyone else.’
At the White House, spokesman Jay
Carney adopted a similar line in attempting
to cool the temperature.
‘The relationship that we have with
Pakistan is complicated but very impor-
tant,’ Carney said. ‘They have been impor-
tant allies, the Pakistanis have been, in our
fight against Al Qaeda; and that fight con-
tinues. And we expect to have continued
cooperation with the Pakistanis on that.
There’s no question that we have disagree-
ments, complications in our relationship,
and we speak openly and candidly with the
Pakistani counterparts about this.’
When asked what discussions are on
right now with the Pakistanis about mili-
tary action that might go beyond drones,
Carney said, ‘Certainly, we take action
against the enemies of the United States —
members of Al Qaeda — where we find
them. And as you know, in the case of
Osama bin Laden, that happened to be in
Pakistan. The fact of the matter is we are
fighting a war in Afghanistan, and one of
the problems we’ve had, which is where this
issue arises from, is with the safe havens
that the Haqqani Network has in Pakistan.
That’s an issue that we raised with our
Pakistani counterparts, and we continue to
have those discussions on a regular basis —
those discussions and discussions about the
broad range of areas where we have shared
interests and cooperation.’
Meanwhile, the pro-Pakistan lobby in the
US, comprising the powerful network of the
affluent and influential Pakistani-American
physician community and businessmen,
went on overdrive and hosted a major
fundraiser for US Congresswoman Ileana
Ros-Lehtinen, Florida Republican who is
the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs
Committee, in New York. Ros-Lehtinan can
be a major player when it comes to either
cutting off or retaining the massive
American aid largesse provided to Pakistan.
