China placed a ‘technical hold’ on an Indian request to impose sanctions of three high-ranking Pakistan-based operatives of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), saying New Delhi had failed to provide sufficient information to merit the action, reports The Hindu. These views were expressed in a confidential cable dated August 21, 2009 sent by the American Embassy in Beijing to Washington while quoting a Chinese Foreign Ministry official. The U.S. State Department was of the view that China’s hold on listing the three terrorists was done at the behest of Pakistan. According to the latest revelations by the WikiLeaks, Chinese Foreign Ministry official, Shen Yinyin told a US Embassy official that Beijing would not lift its hold on the listing of Abdul Rahman Makki, Azham Cheema and Mohammad Masood Azhar Alvi in the absence of adequate information.
Abdul Rahman Makki is the LeT leader Hafiz Saeed’s brother-in-law and is considered the number two man in the organisation. He heads the political affairs department and is a fund raiser for the outfit, says The Hindu. Azam Cheema was the LeT intelligence chief and a key advisor of its senior leader Zaki-ur-Rahman. He is seen as the mastermind behind the July 2007 Mumbai train bombings.
Mohammad Masood Azhar Alvi is the founder of the Jaish-e-Mohammed and one of those released in 1999 by the Indian government in exchange for passengers on the hijacked Indian Airlines flight 814. The US Treasury designated the three individuals in November 2010, ahead of President Barack Obama’s visit to India, the newspaper recalled.
Another confidential diplomatic cable dated December 30, 2009 sent in the name of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had alleged that on the international stage, Pakistan had sought to block the UNSCR 1267 listings of Pakistan-based or affiliated terrorists by requesting that China placed a hold on the nominations. The Hindu mentions a cable dated June 25, 2009 which recorded the US appreciation for Chinese support for designating Arif Qasmani, Muhammad Yahya Mujahid, and Fazeel-a-Tul Shaykh Abu Muhammad Ameen al-Peshawari to the UNSC 1267 Committee. The first two were LeT operatives with links to al Qaeda and the third was said to provide assistance and funding to both the Taliban and al Qaeda networks.