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The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) designated Pakistan-based terrorist Abdul Rehman Makki as a global terrorist on Monday, according to its ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee.
This categorization comes after China blocked India’s effort to designate the leader of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) as a global terrorist last year. In June 2022, India condemned China for blocking a request to include terrorist Abdul Rehman Makki on the Sanctions Committee, commonly known as the UN Security Council 1267 Committee.
“On January 16, 2023, the Security Council Committee pursuant to Resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011), and 2253 (2015) concerning ISIL (Da’esh), Al-Qaida, and associated individuals, groups, undertakings, and entities approved the addition of the entry specified below to its ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions List of individuals and entities subject to the asset freeze, travel ban, and arms embargo set out in paragraph 1 of Security Council resolution 2610 (2021) and adopted under Chapter VII of the United Nations,” the UN said in a statement.
Makki has already been designated a terrorist by India and the United States. He has raised cash, recruited and radicalised youth to violence, and planned assaults in India, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir.
Makki is Hafiz Saeed’s brother-in-law and the leader of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). He has held a variety of senior positions within LeT, a US-designated foreign terrorist organisation (FTO). He has also helped raise funding for LeT operations.
According to the US State Department, a Pakistani anti-terrorist court convicted Makki on one count of terrorism funding and sentenced him to jail in 2020.
In the past, China has made it difficult to name known terrorists, notably those from Pakistan. It had previously vetoed efforts to identify Maulana Masood Azhar, the leader of the Pakistan-based and UN-designated terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).