Govt charity ban for JuD, others
 

By News desk *** By Our correspondent
ISLAMABAD/LAHORE: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) on Monday barred Jamaat-ud-Dawa of Hafiz Saeed from collecting donations. Several other organisations named in a list of banned outfits by the UN Security Council are also covered by the notification.
?The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan hereby prohibits all companies from donating cash to the entities and individuals listed under the UNSC sanctions committee?s consolidated list,? the notification issued by the SECP says.
In addition to JuD, the UNSC?s list also includes Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) itself, the Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FIF), the Pasban-i-Ahle-Hadith and Pasban-i-Kashmir, among others.
The SECP notification further warned that non-compliance with the said ruling could result in a hefty monetary fine. ?The Government of Pakistan has already prescribed a penalty of up to Rs10 million for non-compliance on the sanctions regime being implemented,? it said.
Earlier, Reuters reported that the government had planned to seize control of charities and financial assets linked to Hafiz Saeed, who Washington has designated a terrorist.
The government detailed its plans in a secret order to various provincial and federal government departments on Dec 19, three officials who attended one of several high-level meeting discussing the crackdown told Reuters.
Marked ?secret?, a Dec 19 document from the finance ministry directed law enforcement and governments in the five provinces to submit an action plan by Dec 28 for a ?takeover? of Saeed?s two charities, JuD and FIF.
The United States has labelled JuD and FIF ?terrorist fronts? for LeT (Army of the Pure), a group Saeed founded in 1987 and which Washington and India blame for the 2008 attacks in Mumbai that killed 166 people.
Saeed has repeatedly denied involvement in the Mumbai attacks and a Pakistani court saw insufficient evidence to convict him. The LeT could not be reached for comment.
The Dec 19th document, which refers to ?Financial Action Task Force (FATF) issues?, names only Saeed?s two charities and ?actions to be taken? against them.
The FATF, which is an international body that combats money laundering and terrorist financing, has warned Pakistan it faces inclusion on a watch list for failing to crack down on financing terrorism.
Asked about a crackdown on JuD and FIF, Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal, who co-chaired one of the meetings on the plan, responded only generally, saying he has ordered authorities ?to choke the fundraising of all proscribed outfits in Pakistan?. In a written reply to Reuters, he also said Pakistan wasn?t taking action under US pressure.
?We?re not pleasing anyone. We?re working as a responsible nation to fulfil our obligations to our people and international community.?
Saeed could not be reached for comment. He has frequently denied having ties to militants and says the charitable organisations he founded and controls have no terrorism ties. He says he promotes an Islamic-oriented government through doing good works.
If the government follows through with the plan, it would mark the first time Pakistan has made a major move against Saeed?s network, which includes 300 seminaries and schools, hospitals, a publishing house and ambulance services. The JuD and FIF alone have about 50,000 volunteers and hundreds of other paid workers, according to two counter-terrorism officials.
Participants at the meeting raised the possibility that the government?s failure to act against the charities could lead to UN sanctions, one of the three officials said.
A UN Security Council team is due to visit Pakistan in late January to review progress against UN-designated ?terrorist? groups. ?Any adverse comments or action suggested by the team can have far-reaching implications for Pakistan,? the official said.
The Dec 19th document gave few details about how the state would take over Saeed?s charities, pending the plans submitted from the provincial governments.
It did say it would involve government entities taking over ambulance services and accounting for other vehicles used by the charities. It says law enforcement agencies will coordinate with Pakistan?s intelligence agencies to identify the assets of the two charities and examine how they raise money.
The document also directs that the name of JuD?s 200-acre headquarters, Markaz-e-Taiba, near Lahore be changed to something else ?to make it known that the Government of ?Punjab (province) solely manages and operates the Markaz (headquarters)?.
In August, JuD officials formed a new political party, the Milli Muslim League, and backed candidates who fared relatively strongly in two key parliamentary by-elections.
The JuD publicly disavows armed militancy inside Pakistan, but offers vocal support for the cause of rebel fighters in Indian-administered Kashmir and has called for Pakistan to retake Kashmir.
Washington, which has offered a $10 million reward for information leading to Saeed?s conviction over the Mumbai attacks, warned Islamabad of repercussions after a Pakistani court in late November released him from house arrest. Punjab?s provincial government had put Saeed under house arrest for 10 months this year for violating anti-terrorism laws.On the other hand, Yahya Mujahid, a spokesman for JuD, in a statement said they would move courts and fight a legal battle if the government decided to take control of the organisations run by Saeed.

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