For the second time in as many days, China has rejected an Indian and US plea at the UN to blacklist jihadist Hafiz Talha Saeed, who lives in Pakistan and is the son of Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed.
Hafiz Talha Saeed, 46, is a key member of the lethal terrorist group LeT and the son of the mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks.
In April of this year, the Indian authorities branded him as a terrorist. Information gathered indicates that China blocked the addition of Hafiz Talha Saeed to the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council.
For the second time in less than two days, Beijing has rejected India’s and the US’s request to add a Pakistani terrorist to the list of international terrorists.
According to a notification from the Indian Home Ministry, Hafiz Talha Saeed has been actively involved in recruiting, fund-raising, planning, and carrying out attacks by the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) against Indian interests in Afghanistan and India.
He has also reportedly been preaching jihad against India, Israel, the United States of America, and Indian interests in other western countries while actively visiting different LeT centres across Pakistan.
Hafiz Talha Saeed is a senior member of the LeT and the head of the terrorist organization’s religious wing. On Tuesday, China thwarted an attempt by the US and India to designate Shahid Mahmood, the head of the Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba, as a global terrorist.
After it was suggested by India and the US, Beijing decided not to designate Mahmood, 42, as a global terrorist under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council.
The US Department of Treasury named Mahmood and fellow LeT commander Muhammad Sarwar as fugitives in December 2016 to target LeT’s fundraising and support networks.
