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US declares Lashkar, Jaish as terrorist outfits

Mounting fresh pressure on Islamabad, the United States on Wednesday branded Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayiba and Jaish-e-Muhammad, involved in the attack on the Indian Parliament, as terrorist outfits accusing them of seeking to assault democracy and undermine peace in South Asia.

Continuing its balancing act, US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who declared the LeT and JeM as foreign terrorist organisations (FTO), said in a statement in Washington that the two groups conducted numerous terrorist attacks in India as well as in Pakistan and 'destroyed' relations between the two countries.

Powell declared the US would work with India and Pakistan to shut LeT and JeM down.

Indicating US acceptance of India's evidence showing involvement of LeT and JeM in the attacks on Indian legislatures, Powell said, "As the recent horrific attacks against the Indian Parliament and the Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly so clearly show, the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad and their ilk seek to assault democracy, undermine peace and stability in South Asia and destroy relations between India and Pakistan."

The two groups, "which claim to be supporting the people of Kashmir, have conducted numerous terrorist attacks in India and Pakistan," he added.

"The vicious attacks that took place on September 11 made it clear that the United States must use every tool at its disposal to combat terrorism," Powell said.

"By designating these groups as foreign terrorist organisations, we implement the provisions of the anti-terrorism and effective death penalty Act, which makes it illegal for persons in the US or subject to US jurisdiction to provide material support to these terrorist groups; it requires US financial institutions to block assets held by them and it enables us to deny visas to representatives of these groups."

"I made this decision in consultation with the attorney general and secretary of the treasury after an exhaustive review of these groups' violent activities," Powell said.

PTI

Complete Coverage: The Attack on Parliament

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