Pakistan freezes bank accounts of Jamaat-ud-Dawa

Islamabad: In an apparent move towards swift implementation of anti-terror acts, Pakistan Thursday froze the bank accounts of now banned Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), and restricted its leader Hafiz Mohammad Saeed from foreign travel.

"Pakistan took this decision under the UN obligation and not under pressure from any other quarter, including John Kerry," Pakistan foreign spokesperson Tasneem Aslam said in a briefing at the foreign ministry office here, Dawn reported.

Aslam said assets of all banned organisations in the country have been frozen and that the country was taking action against terrorists without discrimination.

The US and India both have always considered the JuD -- run by Hafiz Saeed and a sister organisation of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba -- as a militant outfit blamed for masterminding the 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai.

Earlier, an interior ministry official had confirmed that JuD and the Haqqani network were on the list of proscribed outfits.

However, the government appeared reluctant in announcing the curbs on an official basis.

The US had sought a ban on the Haqqani network and the JuD but the matter would take some more time, an interior ministry source had said.

The interior ministry has added Harkat-ul-Jihad Islami, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation, Ummah Tameer-i-Nau, Haji Khairullah Hajji Sattar Money Exchange, Rahat Limited, Roshan Money Exchange, Al Akhtar Trust, Al Rashid Trust, Haqqani network and Jamaat-ud- Dawa to the list of proscribed organisations, according to sources.

He said the government had already directed the departments concerned to take immediate steps to freeze the assets of the banned outfits, including the Haqqani Network and JuD.