By Farhan Sharif
Dec. 11 (Bloomberg) — Pakistan banned Jamaat ud-Dawa, an Islamic charity linked to a militant group blamed for last month’s Mumbai attack, ordering police to seal its offices and arrest members.
The government decided to impose the ban with immediate effect, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said in a phone interview from Islamabad. The Interior Ministry later issued a statement saying the charity’s bank accounts had been frozen, its offices sealed and leaders had been put under house arrest.
A United Nations Security Council panel placed sanctions on four members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, the group accused of plotting the attack, and said Jammat ud-Dawa was one of its front organizations.
Zaki ur-Rehman Lakhvi, identified by India as the chief plotter of the attack, and Lashkar’s founder, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, were among the four men listed for sanctions, including an asset freeze and travel ban, according to the U.S. State Department.
The Security Council’s al-Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions Committee, acting after requests from India and the U.S., described the Pakistan-based charity Jamaat ud-Dawa as an alias for Lashkar-e-Taiba.
“These actions will limit the ability of known terrorists to travel, acquire weapons, plan, carry out, or raise funds for new terrorist attacks,” the State Department said.
Pakistani Arrests
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