New Delhi: The 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed had requested the United Nations to remove his name from the list of banned terrorists and in latest development, the UN has rejected the appeal.
It is believed that the decision came after India provided detailed evidence including “highly confidential information” about his activities and the verdict of the UN was conveyed to his lawyer Haider Rasul Mirza, earlier this week.
The decision also came in when the UN’s 1267 Sanctions Committee received a new request to ban Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar after the Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were martyred.
What was surprising is that many countries opposed the request of Saeed, but Pakistan did not oppose the appeal.
Saeed had filed an appeal with the UN through Lahore-based law firm Mirza and Mirza in 2017, while he was still under house arrest in Pakistan, for removal of the ban.
Independent Ombudsperson Daniel Kipfer Fasciati, appointed by the UN to examine all such requests, has informed Saeed’s lawyer that it has been decided following examination of his request that he will “continue as a listed individual”, sources said.
