Pakistan should hold LeT commander accountable for Mumbai attack: US

The United States on Saturday said that Pakistan should hold Lashkar-e-Taiba operations commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi accountable for his involvement in terror attacks, including the 2008 Mumbai carnage, reported PTI.

Mumbai attack mastermind Lakhvi was sentenced to 5 years in prison on Friday by a Pakistani anti-terrorism court in a terror-funding case, amid mounting global pressure on Pakistan to bring to justice terrorists roaming free in the country.

Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Lahore Judge Ejaz Ahmad Buttar sentenced UN proscribed terrorist Lakhvi to five years of severe imprisonment each on three counts with a fine of $620 each on three counts. His punishment will run concurrently.

Reacting to the court judgement, the South and Central Asia Bureau of the US State Department tweeted, “We are encouraged by the recent conviction of Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi.”

“However, his crimes go far beyond financing terrorism. Pakistan should further hold him accountable for his involvement in terrorist attacks, including the Mumbai attacks,” it added.

India on Friday said the timing of these actions clearly suggests the intention of conveying a sense of compliance ahead of APJG (Asia Pacific Joint Group) meet and the next FATF (Financial Action Task Force) plenary meet in February 2021.

Lakhvi was arrested by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab province last Saturday. He was on bail since 2015 in the Mumbai attack case.

He was designated as a global terrorist by the UN in December 2008 for being associated with LeT and al-Qaeda and for “participating in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing or perpetrating of acts by, in conjunction with, under the name of, on behalf or in support of” both the entities.