LeT used Haj money to fund 26/11
Source: ET
LONDON/WASHINGTON: Cash from Haj pilgrims was used to finance the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack by Lashkar-e-Toiba, a US embassy cable published by WikiLeaks has revealed. According to the cable, LeT’s annual military operations budget is $5.2 million.
A Sky News report cited the New York Times as detailing a long list of possible methods terrorists might have been using to fund activities. One memo claims militants often used the annual Haj pilgrimage for laundering money and cash from pilgrims. This, the memo says, was also used to finance the Mumbai terror attack, for which LeT was responsible.
Other documents have claimed the US believes donors from Saudi Arabia are “the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide.” A memo sent by the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in December, 2009, referred to the kingdom as a “cash machine” for al-Qaeda. Other countries in the Middle East have also come under fire.
In the leaked cables, the United Arab Emirates is described as having a “strategic gap” that terrorists could exploit, Qatar is seen as “the worst in the region” on counter-terrorism and Kuwait is labelled “a key transit point”.
In August, 2009, America had also shared other details of fund-raising of various outfits of LeT with Pakistan at the direction of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The document says that Hafiz Saeed continues to lead both LeT and its front organisation Jamaat-ud-Dawa and that some of the funds collected in the name of charitable activities have also been used for planning terror attacks.
The fund is raised through a variety of sources mainly from private donations, NGOs, madrassas and business spread throughout south and west Asia and Europe.
The non-paper that puts LeT’s annual budget at more than `23 crore, was used by Hillary Clinton to buttress her point and convey to Pakistan her decision to oppose delisting of Jamaat-ud-Dawa and its leader Hafiz Saeed from the al-Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council.
The non-paper says that the US intelligence community assesses that Hafiz Muhamad Saeed is leader of LeT and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi is LeT’s operations commander and they continue to run the organisation despite being detained for their role in the Mumbai attacks.
“We also judge that they have planned, directed and executed LeT attacks throughout south Asia and is likely have used some funds collected in the name of JuD’s charitable activities to support multiple terrorist operations, including the November Mumbai attacks,” it said.
“The community assesses that Saeed continues to lead both organisations. However, the community is unable to assess to what extent senior JuD leaders such as Saeed are involved in specific terrorist operations or the level of detail to which they are knowledgeable about specific past and pending attacks,” it said.
LONDON/WASHINGTON: Cash from Haj pilgrims was used to finance the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack by Lashkar-e-Toiba, a US embassy cable published by WikiLeaks has revealed. According to the cable, LeT’s annual military operations budget is $5.2 million.
A Sky News report cited the New York Times as detailing a long list of possible methods terrorists might have been using to fund activities. One memo claims militants often used the annual Haj pilgrimage for laundering money and cash from pilgrims. This, the memo says, was also used to finance the Mumbai terror attack, for which LeT was responsible.
Other documents have claimed the US believes donors from Saudi Arabia are “the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide.” A memo sent by the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in December, 2009, referred to the kingdom as a “cash machine” for al-Qaeda. Other countries in the Middle East have also come under fire.
In the leaked cables, the United Arab Emirates is described as having a “strategic gap” that terrorists could exploit, Qatar is seen as “the worst in the region” on counter-terrorism and Kuwait is labelled “a key transit point”.
In August, 2009, America had also shared other details of fund-raising of various outfits of LeT with Pakistan at the direction of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The document says that Hafiz Saeed continues to lead both LeT and its front organisation Jamaat-ud-Dawa and that some of the funds collected in the name of charitable activities have also been used for planning terror attacks.
The fund is raised through a variety of sources mainly from private donations, NGOs, madrassas and business spread throughout south and west Asia and Europe.
The non-paper that puts LeT’s annual budget at more than `23 crore, was used by Hillary Clinton to buttress her point and convey to Pakistan her decision to oppose delisting of Jamaat-ud-Dawa and its leader Hafiz Saeed from the al-Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council.
The non-paper says that the US intelligence community assesses that Hafiz Muhamad Saeed is leader of LeT and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi is LeT’s operations commander and they continue to run the organisation despite being detained for their role in the Mumbai attacks.
“We also judge that they have planned, directed and executed LeT attacks throughout south Asia and is likely have used some funds collected in the name of JuD’s charitable activities to support multiple terrorist operations, including the November Mumbai attacks,” it said.
“The community assesses that Saeed continues to lead both organisations. However, the community is unable to assess to what extent senior JuD leaders such as Saeed are involved in specific terrorist operations or the level of detail to which they are knowledgeable about specific past and pending attacks,” it said.
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