China has blocked a proposal by India and the U.S. at the United Nations to designate Pakistan-based LeT terrorist Sajid Mir, wanted for his involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, as a global terrorist. Yesterday, Beijing blocked the proposal, which had been moved by the U.S. and co-designated by India to blacklist Mir under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council as a global terrorist and subject him to assets freeze, travel ban, and arms embargo.
In September last year, it was learned that China had put a hold on the proposal to designate Mir at the UN. Beijing has now blocked the proposal. Mir is one of India’s most wanted terrorists and has a bounty of 5 million US dollars placed on his head by the U.S. for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
In June last year, Mir was jailed for over 15 years in a terror-financing case by an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan. Pakistani authorities had in the past claimed Mir had died, but Western countries remained unconvinced and demanded proof of his death. This issue became a major sticking point in FATF’s assessment of Pakistan’s progress on the action plan late last year.
Mir is a senior member of the Pakistan-based LeT and is wanted for his involvement in the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai. The US State Department has said, Mir was LeT’s operations manager for the attacks, playing a leading role in their planning, preparation, and execution.