Additional info on Masood Azhar ensured his sanction by UNSC: Sources

New Delhi:  China, which had been blocking the sanctioning of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), lifted its “technical hold” after “factual” and “sufficient” evidence was provided collectively by some countries, along with India, diplomatic sources said here on Friday.

The sources said the process to list Azhar as a global terrorist was initiated after the February 14 Pulwama attack but they refused to go into the details as to why the terror strike did not find a mention in the resolution of the UNSC’s 1267 Sanctions Committee.

“The link to Pulwama is pretty obvious since the process (to proscribe Azhar) was started after the terror attack there,” the sources underlined while talking about the UNSC resolution.

They expressed gladness that Pakistan, which must implement the UNSC resolution since Azhar was based there, was reportedly “satisfied” with the decision.

“Additional information” linking Azhar directly to JeM, a terror outfit banned by the UNSC, was lately provided to the Sanctions Committee after which his listing as a global terrorist became possible, the sources said while answering questions on what made China change its stand.

China had been blocking the move for over 10 years and even after the Pulwama attack, it retained its “technical hold” when the proposal came up for consideration in March.

Post-March, “factual evidence”, which was additional to what was furnished earlier, was provided to the Sanctions Committee collectively by “some countries” which resulted in Azhar’s listing on May 1, they said.

“It convinced, not only China, but the whole world community,” the sources said.

They noted that “everybody knew” who Masood Azhar was, but sufficient evidence was required to link him directly to JeM which was already banned.

 Published on: May 3, 2019 at 19:10 IST

IANS