Two years before 26/11, US asked Pak to crack down on LeT, JuD

A cable sent on November 27, 2006 by former US Ambassador to Pakistan Ryan C Crocker, one of the hundreds released by WikiLeaks, said the US embassy had raised the operations of the two groups with "contacts throughout the Government of Pakistan" after the LeT was designated a terrorist organisation under UN Security Council resolution 1267 the previous year.

Crocker took up the activities of LeT, Al Akhtar Trust and Al Rashid Trust – all designated under UNSC resolution 1267 – with the then Foreign Secretary Riaz Khan and the then National Security Advisor Tariq Aziz while other US officials engaged the Foreign Ministry's UN Directorate and the Information Ministry.

"No (Government of Pakistan) official, however, has committed to taking direct action to close the operations of these entities," Crocker wrote in the cable exactly two years before 10 terrorists launched by the LeT carried out attacks in India's financial hub killing 166 people.

Following the Mumbai attacks, the UN Security Council designated the JuD a front for the LeT and imposed restrictions on its assets and efforts to gain access to weapons.
The Pakistan government launched a limited crackdown on the JuD and its leaders, including its chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed.

Saeed and several others were placed under house arrest in late 2008 though they were all freed within six months.During his meetings with Pakistani officials, Crocker presented "a press report on the declaration of the Ministry of Defence Parliamentary Secretary that he was proud to be a member of LeT and that he seeks to extend support to jihadi organisations when they seek his 'cooperation'", the cable said.

Then Foreign Secretary Riaz Khan asked Crocker whether the US had evidence linking JuD to terrorist activity and the envoy "replied affirmatively, noting that the (US Government) has shared such information with (Government of Pakistan) intelligence agencies".

Crocker wrote that he "advised the Foreign Secretary that there is a growing concern in the (US Government) about LeT/JuD support to the insurgency in Afghanistan".
An anti-terrorism court is currently conducting the trial of seven suspects, including LeT operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, who have been charged with planning and facilitating the Mumbai attacks.

The in-camera trial has been marred by controversy and delays.The leaked US diplomatic cables have noted that the suspects have "aggressively" filed petitions to delay the trial proceedings.The judge has been changed thrice since the proceedings began early last year and only one out of over 160 prosecution witnesses have testified so far.