Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Jan 20: The Pakistan-based deputy leader of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) Abdul Rehman Makki, who has been designated as a global terrorist by the UN after China lifted its technical hold, has released a video on Thursday from the Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore denying links to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.
“I believe that the grounds for my listing are based on heresy and disinformation by the Indian government. I never met Osama Bin Laden, Ayman Al-Zawahiri or Abdullah Azam as alleged by some propaganda reports,” said Makki.
Earlier on Monday, the UN Security Council’s 1267 ISIL (Da’esh) and Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee designated Makki as a global terrorist, the world body’s second such designation stemming from the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai that killed 166 people.
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Moreover, Makki was arrested in Pakistan’s Punjab province in 2019 and convicted in two separate cases on charges of terror financing in November and December 2020. He is serving multiple sentences in terror finance cases along with Saeed and some other LeT and JuD senior leaders.
Makki said that he considers the views and actions of Al-Qaeda and ISIS opposite of what he believes in.
“I denounce all kinds of terrorism and violence perpetrated by such groups. I believe in the principal position of the Pakistani government regarding Kashmir,” he said.
Notably, India had submitted five names for designation under 1267 in 2022: Makki (LeT), Abdul Rauf Asghar (Jaish-e-Mohammed, JeM), Sajid Mir (LeT), Shahid Mahmood (LeT), and Talha Saeed (LeT) and each of these five names were initially placed on technical hold by one member state while all other 14 members of the Council agreed to their listing.
