US seals Dawood's accounts

The United States (US) administration today put India's most feared underworld kingpin, Dawood Ibrahim, on the list of "specially designated global terrorists". This decision is designed to break the economic backbone of the terrorist network in south Asia.

Ibrahim's assets will be sealed in the United States with immediate effect. The decision was taken by the Department of Treasury through its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which enforces sanctions against terrorists.

Although OFAC's mandate is restricted to foreign assets under the US jurisdiction, the US is already talking to the United Nations (UN) member countries on multilateral cooperation in implementing its mandate, including banning Dawood's assets in other countries, including UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Obviously, Pakistan will come within the ambit of the OFAC order as well. Dawood Ibrahim's underworld empire extends all over the South Asian region. The intelligence dossiers, compiled after interrogations of his associates, said his operations ranged from running an efficient network of hawala, drug-smuggling and extortions in Mumbai to funding radical Islamists to carry out their operations.

With the US' latest move, it will become increasingly difficult for Ibrahim to find a safe haven in most friendly countries like Pakistan and UAE, where he had developed a major business empire.

Known in the Mumbai film world as the CEO of D-company, Ibrahim figured as the prime suspect in the bomb blasts in Mumbai in 1993. His underworld syndicate, however, split on communal lines after the blasts.

Ibrahim and his family members took shelter in Dubai in the aftermath of the blasts and then shifted to Karachi. Indian intelligence agencies have collected information about his links with Pakistan's ISI and his new status as a Pakistani citizen.

Just before the Agra summit between Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf was about to begin, Advani confronted Musharraf with all these facts and demanded the extradition of 20 wanted criminals, who had taken shelter in Pakistan. Ibrahim's name was on the top of the list, home ministry sources said.

Reacting to the US decision, Advani said the government's position had been vindicated by this move. He referred to his meeting with Musharraf on the issue and pointed out that the Pakistan President had then denied the existence of Ibrahim in Pakistan.

"The facts are there to see for the whole world," he told newspersons. Advani insisted again that the Pakistan government hand over the 20 most dreaded terrorists settled in Pakistan in order to improve the relationship between the two countries.

The US' interest in the list of 20, which was pushed to the backburner after the war in Iraq, has clearly been revived. The move to name Dawood as a 'specially designated global terrorist' may have come as a result of relentless pressure from the Indian establishment on the US to drop double standards on terrorism.

Crimes committed by Dawood Ibrahim in India match those committed by Indonesian Islamic radical leader Hambali of the banned Jemaah Islamiyah. The question is whether the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) will aid Pakistan in looking for Dawood with as much intensity as they did for Hambali.