A step forward, says India

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, OCT. 12. The British Government today instructed financial institutions to freeze the assets of the Jaish-e- Mohammed and 37 other organisations and individuals ``believed'' to be engaged in terrorism directly or indirectly.

These include the Karachi-based Rabita Trust and three Pakistan- based individuals -- Haji Abdul Manan Agha, Mufti Rashid Ahmed Ludhianvi and Zia Muhammed -- all of whom have one more aliases. The U.K.-held assets of all those who figure in today's list would be frozen ``immediately'', it was announced.

Indian diplomats hailed the decision saying it was a step towards addressing India's concerns about Pakistan-based or supported groups responsible for cross-border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.

``It is a positive development which goes in the direction of meeting our concerns,'' said Mr. Navdeep Suri, press counsellor at the Indian High Commission. He said India had been sharing with the British Government its worries about the activities of the JeM, including its involvement in the October 1 outrage in Srinagar. The issue also figured prominently during the External Affairs Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh's talks with his British counterpart, Mr. Jack Straw, here recently.

The Chancellor, Mr. Gordon Brown, said today's list was a result of ``intelligence sharing and coordination between the U.K. and the U.S.''. ``We will continue to work with our allies and take a leading role internationally to cut off the ready supply of finance which is the lifeblood of modern terrorism,'' he said, adding: ``Just as there can be no safe haven for terrorism, we are taking decisive action to ensure there is no safe hiding place for their assets.'' The move was officially described as part of the strategy to ``expose, isolate and incapacitate funds being used for terrorist activities''.

The list includes groups and individuals from Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Yemen, among other countries.

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