US imposes sanctions on leaders of LET

The United States imposed sanctions on Tuesday on four leaders of the militant organisation Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LET), citing its links to Osama bin Laden and the al Qaeda terror group. “LET is a dangerous al Qaeda affiliate that has demonstrated its willingness to murder innocent civilians,” Stuart Levey, Treasury under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence (TFI), said in a statement. The sanctions were undertaken under an executive order that targets terrorists and those providing financial, technological, or material support to terrorists or acts of terrorism, the Treasury said. It said the four men targeted were Muhammad Saeed, LET’s leader; Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, the group’s chief of operations; Haji Muhammad Ashraf, its finance chief; and Mahmud Mohammad Ahmed Bahaziq, a major LET financier. The move freezes any assets of these individuals that are within US jurisdiction and bans transactions by Americans with them.