Two years before 26/11, US asked Pak to crack down on LeT, JuD

Rezaul H Laskar
Islamabad, Dec 5 (PTI) Exactly two years before the
2008 Mumbai attacks, American officials pressured the Pakistan
government to crack down on the Lashker-e-Taiba and its front
Jamaat-ud-Dawah but were unable to make much headway,
according to a secret US diplomatic cable.
A cable sent on November 27, 2006 by former US
Ambassador to Pakistan Ryan C Crocker, one of the hundreds
released by WikiLeaks, said the US embassy had raised the
operations of the two groups with "contacts throughout the
Government of Pakistan" after the LeT was designated a
terrorist organisation under UN Security Council resolution
1267 the previous year.
Crocker took up the activities of LeT, Al Akhtar Trust
and Al Rashid Trust – all designated under UNSC resolution
1267 – with the then Foreign Secretary Riaz Khan and the then
National Security Advisor Tariq Aziz while other US officials
engaged the Foreign Ministry's UN Directorate and the
Information Ministry.
"No (Government of Pakistan) official, however, has
committed to taking direct action to close the operations of
these entities," Crocker wrote in the cable exactly two years
before 10 terrorists launched by the LeT carried out attacks
in India's financial hub killing 166 people.
Following the Mumbai attacks, the UN Security Council
designated the JuD a front for the LeT and imposed
restrictions on its assets and efforts to gain access to
weapons.
The Pakistan government launched a limited crackdown
on the JuD and its leaders, including its chief Hafiz Muhammad
Saeed.
Saeed and several others were placed under house
arrest in late 2008 though they were all freed within six
months.
During his meetings with Pakistani officials, Crocker
presented "a press report on the declaration of the Ministry
of Defence Parliamentary Secretary that he was proud to be a
member of LeT and that he seeks to extend support to jihadi
organisations when they seek his 'cooperation'", the cable
said.
Then Foreign Secretary Riaz Khan asked Crocker whether
the US had evidence linking JuD to terrorist activity and the
envoy "replied affirmatively, noting that the (US Government)
has shared such information with (Government of Pakistan)
intelligence agencies".
Crocker wrote that he "advised the Foreign Secretary
that there is a growing concern in the (US Government) about
LeT/JuD support to the insurgency in Afghanistan".


An anti-terrorism court is currently conducting the
trial of seven suspects, including LeT operations commander
Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, who have been charged with planning and
facilitating the Mumbai attacks.
The in-camera trial has been marred by controversy and
delays.
The leaked US diplomatic cables have noted that the
suspects have "aggressively" filed petitions to delay the
trial proceedings.
The judge has been changed thrice since the
proceedings began early last year and only one out of over 160
prosecution witnesses have testified so far. PTI RHL
AVT