Who is Abdul Rehman Makki, the Pakistani terrorist China backs?
Makki is a US-designated terrorist and the brother-in-law of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander and architect of the 26/11 attacks, Hafiz Saeed. He has held different senior positions within Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a Foreign Terrorist Organization recognised by the United States. He has also helped raise funding for LeT operations.
FollowChina has put a halt to a joint move by India and the United States to classify Pakistan-based terrorist Abdul Rehman Makki as a global terrorist under the Security Council's Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee. The US Department of State's Rewards for Justice programme is paying up to USD 2 million in reward money for information about Makki.
According to reports, New Delhi and Washington had submitted a joint petition to the UN Security Council's 1267 ISIL and Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee to designate Makki as a global terrorist, but Beijing put a stop on this move at the last minute.
Who is Abdul Rehman Makki?
Makki is a US-designated terrorist and the brother-in-law of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander and architect of the 26/11 attacks, Hafiz Saeed. He has held different senior positions within Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a Foreign Terrorist Organization recognised by the United States. He has also helped raise funding for LeT operations.
Makki has been involved in raising funds, recruiting and radicalizing youth to violence and planning attacks in India, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir. He was reportedly arrested by Pakistan Government on 15 May 2019, and was kept under house arrest in Lahore. In 2020, he was convicted of terrorism financing and was sentenced to prison by a Pakistani court.
Makki was classified as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the US Treasury in November 2010.
As a result of this classification, among other things, all Makki property and interests in property subject to US jurisdiction are banned, and US citizens are typically barred from participating in any transactions with Makki.
The US continues to seek information on Makki because the Pakistani legal system has previously freed convicted LeT commanders and operatives.
This is not the first time that China has placed hurdles for the listing of known terrorists. In the past, it had repeatedly blocked proposals to designate Maulana Masood Azhar, chief of Pakistan based and UN proscribed terrorist entity, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).
