Treasury Sanctions Lashkar-e Tayyiba Leaders and Founders

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Treasury today announced the designation of two Lashkar-e Tayyiba (LET) leaders and founding members, Zafar Iqbal and Hafiz Abdul Salam Bhuttavi, pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13224.

"Zafar Iqbal and Hafiz Abdul Salam Bhuttavi are two of LET's most significant leaders," said Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David S. Cohen. "Over the past 20 years, Iqbal and Bhuttavi have been responsible for fundraising, recruitment, and indoctrination of operatives.  By targeting the core of LET’s leadership, today's action aims to degrade its ability to facilitate its terrorist activities.”

LET is a Pakistan-based terrorist group with links to the al-Qa’ida network and its former leader Usama bin Laden that is responsible for the November 2008 Mumbai attacks and July 2006 Mumbai train bombings. LET was designated by the U.S. pursuant to E.O. 13224 and named a Foreign Terrorist Organization in December 2001, and was added to the UN 1267/1989 list in May 2005.  Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JUD) was designated as an alias of LET under E.O. 13224 in April 2006 and was added to the UN 1267/1989 list as an alias of LET in December 2008. 

As a result of today’s action, U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with Zafar Iqbal and Hafiz Abdul Salam Bhuttavi and any assets they may have in the U.S. are frozen.

Zafar Iqbal

Zafar Iqbal is a senior leader and co-founder of LET, has served in various LET/JUD senior leadership positions and was once considered LET/JUD’s second-in-command.  As of late 2010, Iqbal was in charge of LET/JUD’s finance department. Zafar Iqbal has also been involved in LET/JUD fundraising activities. As of 2008, he was identified as LET/JUD’s chief of fundraising, and in 2010, Iqbal was overseeing the construction of an LET/JUD facility.

From 2003 to 2010, Iqbal was also the director of LET/JUD’s education department. In this capacity, Iqbal has been involved in recruiting activities on behalf of the group and has prepared the curricula for schools run by LET/JUD in Pakistan. As of 2010, Iqbal was a joint secretary of a university trust created by LET/JUD to carry out activities on behalf of the group.

Iqbal formed LET in the late 1980s with current LET/JUD emir Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, designated by the U.S. pursuant to E.O. 13224 in May 2008, and by the UN in December 2008. In 1989 or 1990, Iqbal traveled to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia with LET/JUD emir Hafiz Muhammad Saeed to request financial support from Usama bin Laden.

Hafiz Abdul Salam Bhuttavi

Hafiz Abdul Salam Bhuttavi is a founding member of LET and deputy to LET/JUD emir Hafiz Muhammad Saeed. Bhuttavi has served as the acting emir of LET/JUD on at least two occasions, including when Saeed was detained in the days after the November 2008 Mumbai attack and held until June 2009. Bhuttavi handled the group’s day-to-day functions during this period.

Bhuttavi also helped prepare the operatives for the November 2008 Mumbai attacks by delivering lectures on the merits of martyrdom. Bhuttavi has issued fatwas authorizing LET/JUD’s militant operations, has instructed group leaders and members, and is responsible for LET/JUD’s madrassah network. In mid-2002, Bhuttavi was in charge of establishing an LET/JUD organizational base in Lahore, Pakistan.