India issues order to put into effect listing of Abdul Rehman Makki as UN-listed terrorist

New Delhi [India], February 1 (ANI): India on Wednesday issued an order to put into effect the listing of Abdul Rehman Makki as a UN-listed terrorist.

The Ministry of External Affairs, in its order, stated that the associated individuals regarding ISIL (Da’esh), Al Qaida, and associated individuals, groups, undertakings, and entities enacted amendments on its ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions List of individuals and entities subject to the asset freeze, travel ban, and arms embargo outlined in paragraph 1 of Security Council resolution 2610(2021), adopted under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter. The Ministry of External Affairs in its order, said, “The Central Government considers it necessary and expedient to revise the Schedule to the order issued under the United Nations (Security Council) Act, 1947 (43 of 1947) to give effect to the said amendments; Now, therefore, in the exercise of the powers conferred by section 2 of the United Nations (Security Council) Act, 1947 (43 of 1947), the Central Government hereby makes the following Order further to amend the Prevention and Suppression of Terrorism (Implementation of Security Council Resolutions) Order, 2007.”

Pakistan-based terrorist Abdul Rehman Makki, who was listed as a global terrorist under its ISIL (Daesh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), was more than just the brother-in-law of 26/11 attacks mastermind and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed.

The second-in-command, as well as the head of political affairs of the terror outfit LeT and Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD), Abdul Rehman Makki, was already listed by India and US as a terrorist under their domestic laws.

The Prevention and Suppression of Terrorism (Implementation of Security Council Resolutions) Amendment Order, 2023, may be referred to as such. It will take effect the day after it is published in the Official Gazette, according to the order.

Notably, India’s relentless efforts to list Pakistan-based terrorists paid off as Makki was finally listed as a ‘global terrorist’.

India had made listings of Pakistan-based terrorists a top priority of its United Nations tenure during 2021-22, according to the sources. 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 Mahmood (LeT), and Talha Saeed (LeT).

Earlier, in January, China finally lifted its ‘technical hold’ on the designation of Makki as a global terrorist under the 1267 UN Sanctions Committee after the country was left isolated in the Security Council.

This listing comes after China last year put a ‘technical hold’ on India’s bid to name the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) leader a global terrorist. In June 2022, India slammed China after it blocked the proposal to list terrorist Abdul Rehman Makki under the Sanctions Committee, also known as the UNSC 1267 Committee.

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 youth to violence and planning attacks in India, especially in Jammu and Kashmir.

Makki has performed various leadership roles within the LeT, a US-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), while also playing a role in raising funds for LeT operations.

In 2020, a Pakistani anti-terrorism court convicted Makki on one count of terrorism financing and sentenced him to prison, according to the US State Department. (ANI)