China on Tuesday blocked a proposal at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to blacklist terrorist and 26/11 attacks accused Sajit Mir.
The proposal had been moved by the United States and was co-designated by India under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UNSC. The proposal sought Mir to be designated as a global terrorist and subject him to assets freeze, travel ban, and arms embargo.
Mir is one of India's most wanted terrorists for his role in 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks (26/11) and has a bounty of $5 million on his head by the United States for its role in the 26/11 attacks. He is a senior member of terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
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"Mir allegedly served as the chief planner of the [26/11] attacks, directing preparations and reconnaissance, and was one of the Pakistan-based controllers during the attacks. Additionally, Mir allegedly conspired to commit a terrorist attack against a newspaper and its employees in Denmark between 2008 and 2009," says US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) about Mir on its website.
In September last year, it was learnt that China had put a hold on the proposal to designate Mir at the UN. Beijing has now blocked the proposal.
In June last year, Mir was jailed for over 15 years in a terror-financing case by an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan.
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Pakistani authorities had in the past claimed Mir had died, but Western countries remained unconvinced and demanded proof of his death. This issue became a major sticking point in FATF's assessment of Pakistan's progress on the action plan late last year.
"Mir was LeT’s operations manager for the attacks, playing a leading role in their planning, preparation, and execution," the US State Department has said.
Beijing, an all-weather friend of Islamabad, has repeatedly put holds on listings to blacklist Pakistan-based terrorists under the sanctions committee of the UN Security Council.
The US State Department had said that Mir has been a senior member of LeT since approximately 2001. From 2006 to 2011, Mir was in charge of LeT’s external operations and planned and directed various terrorist attacks on behalf of the group. Additionally, Mir conspired to commit a terrorist attack against a newspaper and its employees in Denmark between 2008 and 2009.
For his role in the Mumbai attacks, Mir was indicted in the United States in April 2011.
In August 2012, the US Department of the Treasury designated Mir as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. As a result of this designation, among other consequences, all property and interests in property of Mir that are subject to US jurisdiction are blocked, and US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with Mir.
"Mir is on the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists List," according to information on the State Department website.
(With PTI inputs)
