Pakistan let al-Qaida front fund UK plot

On April 28, the U.S. Department of State added Pakistan-based Jamaat-Ud-Dawa to its blacklist of Specially Designated Global Terrorist Organizations. But the Pakistani government did not follow suit.

Islamabad neglected to blacklist Jamaat-Ud-Dawa (JUD) or freeze its assets, allowing the al-Qaida front to continue to operate legally inside Pakistan’s borders.

Authorities have traced money for the British sky terror operation back to the JUD charity. Funds were funneled through three separate bank accounts in Pakistan. The money was to be used by the Pakistani-British suicide bombers to buy plane tickets for dry runs and the final targeted flights.

JUD is based in Lahore, where at least one of last year’s London bombers received aid, and maintains branches in Karachi and Peshawar. Ringleader Mohammed Sidique Khan visited a madrassa (Islamic school) run by JUD in Lahore just before the July 2005 attacks.

Sources say Scotland Yard is furious that terror-war partner Islamabad failed to dismantle the Pakistan-based terror infrastructure that supported the London bombings. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf vowed to crack down on militant groups in Lahore and Karachi in the wake of last year’s attacks.

U.S. authorities, meanwhile, are pressing Musharraf to close at least four known al-Qaida training camps operating inside Pakistan.

Experts say Al-Qaida’s inner circle has found sanctuary in Pakistan. Osama bin Laden is “hiding in Pakistan in the northern tribal areas above Peshawar,” says recently retired CIA officer Gary Schoen.