Pak-based terrorist Makki had more to him than just being Hafiz Saeed's brother-in-law. Find out
Jan 17, 2023
New Delhi [India], January 17 : Pakistan-based terrorist Abdul Rehman Makki, who has been 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.
Now, a designated global terrorist, he has occupied various leadership roles within LeT, a US-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and has been involved in raising funds, recruiting and radicalizing youth to violence and planning attacks in India, especially in Jammu & Kashmir.
Abdul Rehman Makki, whom Pakistan provided a safe haven has been alleged to be involved in several major attacks against India including the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
In 2020, a Pakistani anti-terrorism court convicted Makki on one count of terrorism financing and sentenced him to prison, acccording to the US State Department. The United States continues to seek information on Makki because the Pakistani judicial system has released convicted LeT leaders and operatives in the past.
All 1267 Committee members received the request to add Makki to the list of countries subject to UN Security Council sanctions as part of a no-objection process until June 16 last year, according to the Hong Kong Post.
China on repeated occasions has put the listing of Pakistan-based terrorists under the UNSC Al-Qaeda and ISIL Sanctions Committee on hold. Earlier 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.
China in 2020 had put a hold on India's bid to name the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) leader a global terrorist.
Makki is also a member of organisations like Dawat Irshad Trust, Moaz Bin Jabal Trust, Al-Anfal Trust, Al-Madina Foundation Trust and Al Hamd Trust and Difa-e-Pakistan Council, the motley coalition of 40 right-wing political and religious parties of Pakistan which had once rallied against India and the United States.
Earlier in 2018, global terrorist Hafiz Saeed's brother-in-law, Makki used foul language against Guru Nanak Dev, the first Sikh Guru, at an event in Multan, Pakistan, according to several media reports.
There are currently only a few thousand Sikhs in Pakistan, and they are still subject to persecution by Islamic fundamentalists. A majority of Sikhs remained in India during the partition in 1947.
The ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Monday added Abdul Rehman Makki, a terrorist with ties to Pakistan, to its list of global terrorists.
"On 16 January 2023, the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) concerning ISIL (Da'esh), Al-Qaida, and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities approved the addition of the entry specified below to its ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions List of individuals and entities subject to the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo set out in paragraph 1 of Security Council resolution 2610 (2021) and adopted under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations," the UN said in a statement.
In the past, China has put obstacles in the way of known terrorists being listed, especially those from Pakistan. It had repeatedly rejected attempts to identify Maulana Masood Azhar, the leader of the Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist group in Pakistan, which is a UN-proscribed terrorist entity.
