May 27, 2008
HP-996

Treasury Targets LET Leadership

Washington - The U.S. Department of the Treasury today designated four individuals that hold leadership positions in Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LET), a Pakistan-based terrorist group with links to Usama bin Ladin and the al Qaida network.

"LET is a dangerous al Qaida affiliate that has demonstrated its willingness to murder innocent civilians," said Stuart Levey, Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (TFI). "LET's transnational nature makes it crucial for governments worldwide to do all they can to stifle LET's fundraising and operations."

LET has conducted numerous attacks against Indian military and civilian targets since 1993. The Government of India implicated LET in the July 2006 attack on multiple Mumbai commuter trains, and in the December 2001 attack against the Indian Parliament. LET is also suspected of involvement in attacks in New Delhi in October 2005, and in Bangalore in December 2005. In March 2002, senior al Qaida leader Abu Zubaydah was captured at an LET safe house in Faisalabad, Pakistan.

LET arose in the early 1990s as the armed wing of the Sunni missionary movement Markaz-ud Dawa-wal-Irshad. Despite being banned by the Government of Pakistan in January 2002, LET continues to operate in Kashmir and engage in or support terrorist activities worldwide. LET was designated pursuant to U.S. Executive Order 13224 on December 20, 2001, and under UN Security Council Resolution 1267 on May 2, 2005. The U.S. Department of State named LET a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) on December 26, 2001.

Today's action was taken pursuant to Executive Order 13224, which targets terrorists and those providing financial, technological, or material support to terrorists or acts of terrorism. Any assets these designees have under U.S. jurisdiction will be frozen and U.S. persons are prohibited from engaging in any transactions with the designees.Identifying Information

Muhammad Saeed
AKAs: Hafiz Muhammad Saeed
Hafiz Saeed
Hafiz Sahib
Hafiz Mohammad Saeed
Hafez Mohammad Sayeed
Hafiz Mohammad Sayid
Hafiz Mohammad Syeed
Tata Ji
Hafiz Mohammad Sayed
Address: House No. 116E, Mohalla Johar, Town: Lahore, Tehsil
Lahore City, Lahore District, Pakistan
DOB: 5 June 1950
POB: Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan
Father's Name: Kamal-ud-Din
National ID#: 3520025509842-7

Muhammad Saeed is LET's overall leader and chief and plays a key role in LET's operational and fundraising activities worldwide. Saeed oversaw the management of a terrorist training camp in Pakistan in 2006, including funding of the camp, which prepared militants to fight against Coalition forces in Afghanistan.

Saeed, in 2005, determined where graduates of an LET camp in Pakistan should be sent to fight, and personally organized the infiltration of LET militants into Iraq during a trip to Saudi Arabia. That same year, Saeed arranged for an LET operative to be sent to Europe as LET's European fundraising coordinator.

Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi

AKAs: Zakir Rehman Lakvi
Zaki Ur-Rehman Lakvi
Zaki Ur-Rehman
Zakir Rehman
Abu Waheed Irshad Ahmad Arshad
Chachajee
Address 1: Barahkoh, P.O. DO, Tehsil and District Islamabad, Pakistan
Address 2: Chak No. 18/IL, Rinala Khurd, Tehsil Rinala Khurd, District
Okara, Pakistan
DOB: 30 December 1960
POB: Okara, Pakistan
Father's Name: Hafiz Aziz-ur-Rehman
National ID#: 61101-9618232-1

Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi is LET's chief of operations. In this capacity, Lakhvi has directed LET military operations, including in Chechnya, Bosnia, Iraq, and Southeast Asia. Lakhvi instructed

LET associates in 2006 to train operatives for suicide bombings. Prior to that, Lakhvi instructed

LET operatives to conduct attacks in well-populated areas.

Lakhvi, in 2004, sent operatives and funds to attack U.S. forces in Iraq. Lakhvi also directed an LET operative to travel to Iraq in 2003 to assess the jihad situation there.

In past years, Lakhvi has also played an important role in LET fundraising activities, reportedly receiving al Qaida-affiliated donations on behalf of LET.

Haji Muhammad Ashraf is LET's chief of finance, a position he has held since at least 2003. Ashraf traveled to the Middle East in 2003 and 2004, where he personally collected donations on behalf of LET. Ashraf assisted Saudi Arabia-based LET leadership in 2003 with expanding its organization and increasing its fundraising activities.

Mahmoud Mohammad Ahmed Bahaziq

AKAs: Mahmoud Bahaziq
Abu `Abd al-'Aziz
Abu Abdul Aziz
Shaykh Sahib
DOB: 17 August 1943
Alt DOB: 1943
Alt DOB: 1944
POB: India
Nationality: Saudi Arabian
Saudi Registration Number: 4-6032-0048-1

Mahmoud Mohammad Ahmed Bahaziq is an LET financier and is credited with being the main financier behind the establishment of the LET and its activities in the 1980s and 1990s. He has also served as the leader of LET in Saudi Arabia. In 2003, Bahaziq coordinated LET's fundraising activities with Saudi nongovernmental organizations and Saudi businessmen, and encouraged LET operatives to continue and accelerate fundraising and organizing activities. As of mid-2005, Bahaziq played a key role in LET's propaganda and media operations.