In a major diplomatic victory for India, Abdul Rehman Makki was designated a global terrorist by the UN after China lifted its hold on a joint India-US proposal to blacklist the deputy chief of Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba, paving the way for the Security Council's Al Qaeda sanctions committee to list him through consensus.
The UN Security Council’s 1267 ISIL (Da’esh) and Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee added 68-year-old Makki to its list of designated terrorists on Monday, subjecting him to an assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo, after years of efforts by India and its allies.
Makki’s listing comes seven months after China, a close ally of Pakistan, had put a hold on June 16, 2022 on a joint proposal by India and the US to designate the head of the political affairs wing of JuD/LeT and the brother-in-law of LeT chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed.
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Decisions to list individuals and entities under the 1267 sanctions committee are made through consensus.
Of the 15 Security Council members that make up the Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee, veto-wielding permanent member China was the sole hold-out during the process to list Makki.
Consensus to blacklist Makki under the 1267 Al Qaeda sanctions committee could not be achieved after China placed a hold on the joint proposal by India and US in June last year.
Who is Abdul Rehman Makki?
The UN blacklisted global terrorist is the deputy chief of the militant outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). He also is in charge of the political affairs department of the same terrorist group.
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Makki also heads the Jamaat ud-Dawa’s (JuD) central and proselytsing team which holds the reputaion of attacking minorities in Pakistan through forced conversions and kidnappings.
Makki has been known to be the is the brother-in-law of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind who orchestrated the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.
While holding the aforementioned designations, Makki has been involved with the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, Red Fort Attack on December 22, 2000, Rampur CRPF Camp attack on New Year’s Day in 2008, Karan Nagar (Srinagar) attack on February 12-13, 2018, Khanpora (Baramulla) attack on May 2018, Srinagar attack on June 2018 and Gurez/Bandipora attack on August 2018.
"In 2020, a Pakistani anti-terrorism court convicted Makki on one count of terrorism financing and sentenced him to prison. The United States continues to seek information on Makki because the Pakistani judicial system has released convicted LeT leaders and operatives in the past," according to information on the Rewards for Justice website.
In November 2010, the US Department of the Treasury had designated Makki as a ‘specially designated global terrorist.’
(With PTI Inputs)
