US adds two Pak based outfits to terror list

The US today declared as global terrorist organisations two renamed outfits of the banned LeT active in J&K.

In a bid to checkmate Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT) from operating under disguises, the US on Friday declared as global terrorist organisations two renamed outfits of the banned group active in Jammu and Kashmir and some other parts of India.

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Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JUD) and Idara Khidmat-e-Khalq (IKK) were added to the Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) list by the US Department of State under the Executive Order 13224 blocks, an American Embassy statement said in New Delhi.

The move will empower authorities to confiscate properties of the two groups in the US and areas under the control of Americans.

The action "blocks all property and interests in property of JUD and IKK that are in the US or come within the US or under the control of the US persons," it said.

After the LeT was designated as a global terrorist by the US and banned by the Pakistani government in 2001, it had renamed itself as JUD in order to evade sanctions, the statement noted.

JUD established IKK as a public welfare organisation, which it uses to collect funds and undertake other activities, the US pointed out.

LeT, "one of the three largest and best trained groups fighting in Kashmir", has been sanctioned by the UN 1267 Committee for its association with al-Qaeda, the Embassy said.

The State Department took the action in consultation with the Attorney General, the Secretary of Treasury and the Department of Homeland Security.