ISLAMABAD, Pakistan | Pakistan moved Thursday to dismantle an Islamic charity linked to militants suspected in the Mumbai attacks by arresting its leaders, closing its offices and freezing its assets.
The ban on Jamaat-ud-Dawa came a day after it was declared a front for terrorists by the United Nations and subject to U.N. sanctions including an asset freeze, travel ban and arms embargo.
India said the Mumbai attackers were Pakistani citizens and the assault was directed and planned in Pakistan. Islamabad is under intense international pressure to crack down on anyone connected to the attacks.
“The government has decided to proscribe Jamaat-ud-Dawa,” Information Minister Sherry Rehman said.
Lahore police Chief Pervez Rathor said the group’s head, Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, and four other leaders had been placed under house arrest for three months. He did not say whether they would be charged with a crime.
“We have taken action in response to orders from the federal government,” he said.
Earlier on Thursday, authorities in the country’s largest city, Karachi, said they had closed nine premises associated with the group. A reporter outside one Jamaat office in the city said it was locked up and deserted.
It was not clear what was happening at the group’s large headquarters close to the eastern city of Lahore.
Pakistan has already arrested at least 20 people, including two extremists identified by India as key figures in the Mumbai attacks, but India has made it clear that it wants to see more action.
The attacks on Mumbai, India’s financial center, killed 171 people and sharply raised tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors, which have fought three wars over the past 60 years.
Speaking to the Indian Parliament in New Delhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called Pakistan “the epicenter of terrorism” and said the international community must deal with the problem, Agence France-Presse reported. “We have noted the reported steps taken by Pakistan, but clearly much more needs to be done,” Mr. Singh said.
U.S. officials said Jamaat-ud-Dawa is a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba, a banned militant group accused by India of carrying out and planning the Mumbai assaults.
The U.N. designation of Jamaat and four of its leaders, including Saeed, came after Indian and U.S. pressure.
The group - which has offices, schools and medical clinics across the country - has repeatedly said it has no links to Lashkar.
Saeed denied that the charity was involved in terrorism and denounced the United Nations. He said the group would petition the United Nations as well as national and international courts to overturn the decision.
“If India or the U.S. has any proof against Jamaat-ud-Dawa, we are ready to stand in any court. We do not beg, we demand justice,” he said.
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