US holds up approval for Pak’s ambassador-designate Masood Khan

INTERNATIONAL DESK: The United States (US) has held up approval for the appointment of Masood Khan as the new Pakistani ambassador to Washington, apparently due to concerns related to his stint as president of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Pakistan named Khan, 70, as its pick for the post in Washington last November but diplomatic circles in Islamabad have been abuzz with reports that the US side had held up his agreement or approval.

People familiar with the matter confirmed on Monday that the US side is yet to sign off on the approval. They said the matter was apparently linked to Khan’s stint as president of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, the name used by Pakistan for PoK, during 2016-21.

Coinciding with this development, Scott Perry, a Republican member of the US Congress, has written a letter to President Joe Biden, demanding that the US administration should “reject any democratic credentials” presented by Khan in view of his background as a “bona fide terrorist sympathizer working to undermine” American interests in the region and the “security of our Indian allies”.

In a January 27 letter, Perry wrote that Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s nomination of Khan “can only be described as a breathtaking lack of judgement at best, and a demonstration of Islamabad’s unmitigated contempt for the United States at worst”.

Perry contended that Khan has “praised both terrorists and foreign terrorist organizations – including Hizbul Mujahideen – in stark and unsettling terms” and “encouraged young men to emulate jihadists like Burhan Wani, a former commander of Hizbul Mujahideen who dedicated his life to a holy war against India”.

He further wrote that Khan “lashed out” at the US in 2017 for designating the leader of Hizbul Mujahideen for sanctions, and willingly appeared alongside Harkat-ul-Mujahideen founder Fazlur Rehman Khalil, a specially designated global terrorist, in 2019. Perry referred to the US treasury department’s assertion that Khalil had a close relationship with al-Qaeda and its slain founder, Osama bin Laden.

Perry also accused Khan of supporting the “Helping Hand for Relief and Development”, a group that has a partnership with the Lashkar-e-Taiba, which was responsible for killing 166 people during the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

“A litany of examples accompanies Mr Khan’s perverse attachment to Islamic terrorism, which makes it exceedingly obvious that Pakistan has embraced its identity as a super terrorist state,” Perry wrote.

“While I am encouraged that the State Department has reportedly put a pause on approving Masood Khan as the new Ambassador from Pakistan, a pause is not enough. I urge you to reject any diplomatic credentials presented to you by Masood Khan and reject any effort by the Government of Pakistan to install this jihadist as Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States,” he added.

Khan, a career diplomat before he switched over to politics, was born in PoK. He has served as Pakistan’s envoy to the UN in Geneva and in New York and as ambassador to China.

In a special message on the death anniversary of Burhan Wani in July last year, Khan had said the commander would be remembered for his struggle against India.

“The history of Kashmir will remain incomplete without the chapter of Burhan Wani because he is a hero and a glittering star of the liberation struggle which has been continuing for the last seven decades,” he said.

(Hindustan Times)