The Conviction and Sentencing of International Terrorist Sajid Majeed Mir

The Conviction and Sentencing of International Terrorist Sajid Majeed Mir

Sajid Majeed Mir was previously the deputy head of the international operations wing of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a proscribed Pakistan-based militant group. The 44-year-old Mir has been a key player in the LeT, planning the expansion of the group’s operations from Kashmir to other parts of India. For example, Mir was the handler for the Pakistani-American operative David Headley, who played a key role in the planning with Mir of the 2008 Mumbai attacks (One India, November 26, 2018).

Mir’s role in the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks in India resulted in the US Department of State offering up to $5 million for information on Mir under its Rewards for Justice Program. The terrorist attack in Mumbai that Mir directed killed 166 people, including six American citizens (Rewards for Justice, November 10, 2008). In May 2022, Mir was finally sentenced to fifteen-and-a-half years in prison for terrorism financing by a Pakistani anti-terrorism court in Lahore (Dawn, June 2, 2022). Although he is now in prison, he remains an inspiration for the new recruits in LeT, who are likely to continue his legacy.

Early Life, Family, and Career

Mir was born in 1976 to a middle-class Punjabi family in Lahore (the capital of Punjab province), where his father ran a small textile business. Eventually, Mir married the daughter of a retired Pakistani army officer, with whom he had two sons (The Hindu, October 18, 2016). He received degrees from the University of Punjab in English Literature and Islamic Studies, while also learning to speak Arabic, Urdu, and English fluently (Law Insider, November 10, 2022). As a qualified Islamic preacher, these skills would later aid him in persuading Western jihadists to attack targets internationally.

Mir joined LeT when he was 18 in 1994. He then rose through LeT’s ranks and became associated with the group’s international operations. At this point in his life, Mir likely participated in jihadist activity in his after school hours (Dawn, June 25, 2022). Mir was associated with LeT’s founder Hafiz Saeed and was trained by Ilyas Kashmiri, who was an al-Qaeda commander killed in an American drone strike in 2011 (Qrius, October 1, 2022). These connections likely contributed to his rapid rise in the organization. Further, Mir had direct access to Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, who was the chief of all terrorism operations. It is believed that Mir connected him with al-Qaeda operatives to carry out terrorist activities in different countries (Dawn, June 25, 2022).

In December 2021, Pakistani authorities declared Mir dead; this would later be proven incorrect when they then arrested him in April 2022. As previously stated, Mir was then convicted by a Pakistani court for terrorism financing in May 2022, and now faces a fifteen-and-a-half year prison sentence in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail (The Hindu, June 28, 2022).

Mir’s Rise in International Terrorism

In 2002, Mir attracted global attention due to the “Virginia Paintball Jihadi” case. Mir had attempted to purchase military equipment from the US with the help of accomplices in Virginia. This failed, and the FBI imprisoned ten of his Virginia-based facilitators (Dawn, June 25, 2022).

In 2003, Mir planned a terrorist attack in Australia as retaliation for Australia’s military presence in Afghanistan. In that plot, Willie Brigitte (a French national) and Faheem Khalid Lodhi (an Australian) were his accomplices. However, Brigitte and Lodhi were detained by the Australian authorities before they could launch the attack. Brigitte was then deported to France, where a court sentenced him to nine years in prison (Dawn, June 25, 2022).

In 2006, Mir took charge of LeT’s international operations. He planned and directed an attack on a newspaper and its staff in Denmark in 2009 (Rewards for Justice, November 10, 2011). The terrorist operation against the Danish newspaper was codenamed “Mickey Mouse” (Times of India, October 28, 2009). After these plots, Mir—who became known to foreign jihadists as “Uncle Bill”—then began focusing on Mumbai and planning attacks on India’s largest city (The Hindu, October 18, 2016).

The “Project Manager” of the Mumbai attacks

Known as the “project manager” of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, Mir had visited India as early as 2005 using a fake identity and passport (Economic Times, June 25, 2022). He was able to enter India by pretending to be a cricket spectator for an India-Pakistan match in New Delhi, staying there 15 days (Dawn, June 25, 2022). During his stay, he carefully investigated Mumbai with the help of David Headley. Three years later, he would direct operatives who participated in the infamous attack over the phone (Law Insider, November 10, 2021).

The attack occurred in November 2008, when a group of 10 LeT members sailed from the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi and hijacked an Indian fishing boat. After killing the captain, the militants took a rubber dinghy into Mumbai where they attacked hotels, a train station, a hospital, and a Jewish community center. Indian forces killed nine attackers, while one attacker, Ajmal Kasab, was captured alive. Kasab later faced trial in an Indian court, where he received the death sentence (al Jazeera, June 28, 2022). The role of Mir in the Mumbai attacks, according to the FBI, was as the “chief planner… directing preparations and reconnaissance, and as one of the key controllers during the attacks” (Economic Times, June 25, 2022).

In particular, Mir was the main handler of David Headley and extended Headley all possible support for the Mumbai attack. He provided him financial and logistical assistance, identifying and surveying targets for attacks in Mumbai. Mir also indirectly helped by training and briefing the militants who carried out the operation. Mir was present in the group’s control room in Pakistan when the militants launched their attack in Mumbai (Qrius, October 1, 2022).

Mir’s Conviction and Sentencing

The conviction of Mir was handed down by an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan. However, it raised many questions because it came at a time when the country was striving to be removed from the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) “grey-list.” The conviction of Mir strengthened Pakistan’s relationship with the FATF; the high profile case reassured the FATF that Pakistan was making progress on the FATF’s action plan for it (Dawn, June 25, 2022).

India abstained from offering any comments on the conviction and sentencing of Mir because the court’s verdict was not formally announced in Islamabad. An Indian government official, however, stated that the “timing” of Pakistan’s actions in the Mir case were “clearly aimed at being granted leniency from Western countries at the FATF” (The Hindu, June 28, 2022). India was frustrated with Pakistan’s repeated inaction in prosecuting Mir, complaining that Pakistan appeared to have only taken action to demonstrate progress with FATF, rather than to pursue justice. Indeed, there were no details provided to the media or the FATF about Mir’s capture, which suggests that Pakistan may cease to lend Mir the safe harbor it provided in the past.

Regardless, with the imprisonment of Mir, LeT lost a valuable asset. He had been the brains behind the LeT’s militant operations beyond Pakistan’s borders, and had planned and directed attacks in Australia, Denmark, and Mumbai. He also was a conduit for LeT relations with other international terrorist organizations like al-Qaeda, which will be lost with his imprisonment.

Conclusion 

Mir’s role as commander-in-charge for the training of Western jihadists across the world expanded as the LeT did the same (The Week, November 26, 2020). An overlooked feature of Mir is his ability to attract, train, and handle Western jihadists. As established previously, he discovered Brigitte from France, Headley from the US, and also Lodhi from Australia, who became his assets abroad. He then carefully used these assets for his operations in various countries.