Pak exposed over Sajid Mir terror links, FATF grey list deception

NEW DELHI: In a cat-and-mouse game of global deception, Pakistan's shifting narrative on Sajid Mir left it exposed, as pointed out by Foreign Secretary

Vikram Misri

on Wednesday, and left the world questioning the country's claims of combating terrorism.Once claimed to be a non-entity, Mir was abruptly declared dead in a brazen attempt to shield him from accountability.

The truth eventually caught up, and Mir was ‘arrested’ by Pakistan's authorities, exposing the Pak govt's long-standing charade. As the veil of secrecy lifted, the world got a glimpse into the shadowy world of state-sponsored terror, where 26/11 plotters like Mir operated with impunity and the Pak govt played a game of denial and deception.According to sources, the acceptance of Mir’s existence was a desperate attempt by Pakistan to get out of the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an intergovernmental entity which tracks terror financing and money laundering. Mir was, on paper, lodged in central jail, also known as

Kot Lakhpat

jail in Lahore, after being ‘sentenced’ for eight years by an "anti-terrorism court" of Pakistan on charges of terror financing. He was detained in April 2022 in a hush-hush affair while the prison term was awarded in June just before a meeting of the FATF.Mir, who has a five million dollar bounty on his head announced by the FBI, is wanted even by the US govt. The FBI described Mir as someone who once wore a beard and hair down to his shoulders. He, according to the FBI, altered his appearance through plastic surgery.

The US has held Mir responsible for directing preparations and reconnaissance and being one of the Pakistan-based controllers during the 26/11 attacks. Additionally, Mir conspired to commit a terrorist attack against a newspaper and its employees in Denmark between 2008 and 2009.Mir, who would currently be in his early 50s, was LeT's foreign recruiter and the main handler for American terrorist David Coleman Headley, alias Dawood Gilani. A US Justice Department document mentions how the 26/11 attackers were in real-time telephonic contact with Mir and his associates, Abu Qahafa and

Mazhar Iqbal

, during the attack. On Mir's advice, Headley, then based in Pennsylvania, changed his given name of “Dawood Gilani” to “David Coleman Headley” in order to facilitate his activities on behalf of Lashkar by enabling him to present himself in India as an American who was neither Muslim nor Pakistani.