US Congress members write to Attorney General raising concerns about Pakistan’s newly-appointed Ambassador to United States

Representational image. Reuters

United States Congress members have written a joint letter to the Attorney General of the US Department of Justice raising concerns about Pakistan’s newly-installed Ambassador to the United States, Masood Khan.

The letter accuses the newly appointed Ambassador Masood Khan of supporting various US-designated terrorist groups in South Asia.

The US Congress member wrote in the letter saying, “On 27 January, I wrote a letter to President Biden raising concerns about Pakistan’s newly-installed Ambassador to the United States, Masood Khan. In that letter, I requested that President Biden “reject any diplomatic credentials presented by [Mr Khan]” due to Khan’s unmitigated sympathy and support for various US-designated terrorist groups in South Asia. While it defies reason that Masood Khan was approved, his close relationships with domestic actors linked with the Pakistani regime remains a critical concern.”

Letter accuses Pakistan of using US actors as agents

According to the letter, In 2011, Virginia activist Ghulam Nabi Fai was charged by American prosecutors with serving as a secret agent of the Pakistani government. Fai pleaded guilty and admitted to extensive contact with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). It had come to light that the ISI had transferred $3.5 million to Fai and his organization, the Kashmiri American Council. Following his release, Fai became involved with a new outfit, the World Kashmir Awareness Forum, and set about forming a partnership with Masood Khan. In May 2018, Fai’s group hosted an event in DC to “highlight Indian atrocities” in Kashmir – an event where Masood Khan was the keynote speaker.

Masood Khan also has also been tied closely to Pakistani efforts to marginalize India in the United States. Prior to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2019 visit to America, Masood worked with groups to organize large-scale protests against the Indian government.

The letter further adds, “Khan has also worked with groups such as the Association of Physicians of Pakistani Descent of North America (APPNA), whose subsidiary, PAKPAC, has worked closely withFriends of Kashmir. APPNA itself has been described by Imran Khan as Pakistan’s “most powerful” lobbying group in the United States.

US Congress raises concerns about HHRD’s open cooperation with Lashkar-e-Taiba

According to the letter, “A registered organization called Helping Hand for Relief and Development (HHRD) repeatedly enjoyed praise from Masood Khan and his official office, which declared its commitment to “cooperation” with the HHRD11–even after the US Congress raised concerns about HHRD’s open cooperation with designated terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba.”

The letter adds,”HHRD is a subsidiary of the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), which Johns Hopkins University Professor Vali Nasr has identified as one of the eight major branches of Jamaat-e-Islami,13 an international Islamist movement responsible for genocide during the 1971 Bangladeshi War of Independence.14 In 2019, the organizer of an ICNA/HHRD fundraiser was convicted of lying to the FBI as part of a terror finance investigation.”

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