Kashmir terrorists now under SDGT of LeT: US

Washington, Apr 29: The United States announced that various terrorists groups active under the aliases Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JUD) and Idara Khidmat-e-Khalq (IKK) have now been brought under the Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) designation of Lashkhar-e-Tayyiba (LET).

The US State Department's action under Executive Order 13224 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 US persons.

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

LET is one of the three largest and best trained groups fighting in Kashmir against India.

After the Secretary of State's designation of LET as a terrorist organisation in 2001 and the Pakistani government's banning the group, LET renamed itself JUD in order to evade sanctions. JUD established IKK as a public welfare organisation that it utilises to collect funds and undertake other activities.

LET has been sanctioned by the United Nations 1267 Committee for its association with al-Qaeda, according to the US State Department Country Report on Terrorism 2005, which was released here yesterday.

UNI