Meet the chief financers of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba

Ahead of the visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Saudi Arabia, there was some welcome news.

Saudi Arabia and the United States of America imposed sanctions of some persons who were actively funding the Taliban, al-Qaeda and the Lashkar-e-Tayiba.

This is a welcome move. The sanctions against the funders of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba in particular is good news for India.

There are three persons and their respective organisations which have been slapped with sanctions.

Interestingly one of them is a Scottish man who converted to Islam and runs the influential money spinning organisation, the Al-Rahman Welfare Organisation.

Abdul Aziz Nuristani:

Abdul Aziz Nuristani the head of the Jamia Asariya Madrasa is one of the names in the sanctions list. He is based in Peshwar and through his Madrasa he has been raising funds and also channelising the same.

This is a key Madrasa for the Lashkar-e-Tayiba. The money is collected as donation in the Gulf and the same is channelised into the Lashkar-e-Tayiba's coffers through this madrasa.

Investigations had shown that this Madrasa would collect money under the garb of relief work. It has collected millions of dollars in the name of relief work or charity. A chunk of these collections were used to provide supplies for the Lashkar-e-Tayiba.

Alexander McLintock:

Alexander McLintock is a 52 year old Scotsman who embraced Islam at the age of 20. He runs the Al-Rahmah Welfare Organisation which has been involved in funding both the Taliban and the al-Qaeda.

The organisation was opened with an intention of supporting both the Taliban and the al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.

There have been instances of him channelising funds to the Lashkar-e-Tayiba as well. However, his primary operations were linked with the al-Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban.

Muhammad Ijaz Safarash:

Muhammad Ijaz Safarash is a key man in the transactions of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba. He is based in Saudi Arabia and has been playing a major role in providing financial assistance to the Lashkar-e-Tayiba.

In addition to this, his role in arranging for the travel of Lashkar-e-Tayiba operatives and creating travel documents has also been unearthed by the investigators.

His role and connection with the Lashkar-e-Tayiba came to light when intercepts of him speaking with Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi cropped up.

Lakhvi, the operations head of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba trusted him the most and would rely on him entirely when it came to sending operatives to Saudi Arabia apart from channelising funds for the outfit.