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Designation as terrorist outfits: Islamabad silent

B. Muralidhar Reddy

We will challenge decision: JuD

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan chose not to react to the decision of the Bush administration to designate Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and Idara Khidmat-e-Khalq (IKK) as terrorist outfits even as the JuD denounced it as a move by Washington to please New Delhi.

In an announcement on Friday the U.S. Department of State said JuD and the IKK have been placed in the Specially Designated Global Terrorist Designation (SDGT) of the Lashkhar-e-Taiba (LeT).

It said the April 27 action under Executive Order 13224 blocks all property and interests in property, of the JUD and IKK that are in the United States, or come within the United States, or under the control of U.S. persons.

The announcement said the LeT is one of the three largest and best trained groups fighting in Kashmir against India. It said after the Secretary of State's designation of the LeT as a terrorist organisation in 2001 and the Pakistan Government's ban on the group, the LeT renamed itself JUD in order to evade sanctions.

"JuD established the IKK as a public welfare organisation that it utilises to collect funds and undertake other activities. The LeT has been sanctioned by the United Nations 1267 Committee for its association with the Al-Qaeda," the announcement said.

There was no immediate reaction to the announcement from Pakistan. In the past Islamabad has not necessarily gone by the decision of the State Department in banning organisations based or connected to Pakistan.

"Un-Islamic"

Addressing a gathering of medical students in Lahore on Saturday the chief of the JuD, Hafiz Saeed described the U.S. decision as "un-Islamic and irresponsible." He claimed that Washington which listed the JuD and the IKK as two outfits was not aware of the `fact' that they are in fact the same organisation. He further asserted that the JuD is not an incarnation of the LeT.

"We would knock on every door and legally challenge the U.S. decision which is essentially aimed at pleasing its new-found partner, India. We would not be cowed down by such actions and would continue our actions," Prof. Saeed said.

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