US-LET 2LST

In response to the Mumbai terror attacks and
Jamaat-Ud-Dawah's links to LeT, the Pakistani government moved
to ban JuD in December 2008.
"Despite the ban, JuD continues to operate virtually
unfettered in Pakistan, both in the open and under the guise
of a new charitable front called Falah-e-Insaniat (FeI). JuD's
signature black-and-white flag bearing a scimitar was recently
seen flying at a relief effort set up by the newly established
FeI for refugees fleeing violence in Pakistan's SWAT valley,"
it said.
Even the new group's own members recognize the
inseparable nature between JuD and FeI, it added.
"It is a measure of the impunity with which LeT is
allowed to operate in Pakistan that the authorities have been
unwilling to contain LeT chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, who
attracts thousands across the country with his fiery sermons.
Although he has been periodically arrested, his house
detentions have been cosmetic at best," the report said.
Now, it said, the threat posed by Lashkar extends
beyond the borders of India and Pakistan.
"Westerners who have passed through LeT's training
camps include an Australian-born al-Qaeda operative named
David Hicks, convicted 'shoe bomber' Richard Reid, and Dhiren
Barot, the mastermind of a failed gas-cylinder bombing in
London," it said.
The attraction of LeT to Westerners may be traced to a
number of factors. Although the group has shown willingness
since the 1990s to train foreigners as a means of establishing
networks in the West, this activity surged after September 11
because LeT did not experience the same crackdown that its
al-Qaeda brethren did.
As a result, the camps became an especially appealing
destination for many would-be jihadists.
"The group makes its training camps accessible to
English speakers, providing crucial skills to an increasingly
young and Western-born generation of extremists," the report
said.
"Demonstrative of the growing threat posed by Lashkar
is the terror group's connections to a number of recent plots
involving American citizens. The most notable were Americans
who had assisted in the Mumbai attacks and an extensive
sleeper cell of Americans in Northern Virginia. In addition to
these high-profile cases, there have been a number of smaller
criminal prosecutions of Americans associated with Lashkar,"
it said. PTI LKJ
MYR


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