France freezes JeM chief Masood Azhar's assets, will also take up his listing with EU
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A joint release by French Foreign Ministry, Economy Ministry and the Interior Ministry said, "France has decided to sanction Masood Azhar at the national level by freezing his assets in application of the Monetary and Financial Code'.
France has decided to freeze the assets of Masood Azhar, chief of the terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed which claimed the responsibility for the Pulwama terror attack that killed more than 40 CRPF personnel on February 14.
A joint release by French Foreign Ministry, Economy Ministry and the Interior Ministry said, "France has decided to sanction Masood Azhar at the national level by freezing his assets in application of the Monetary and Financial Code. A joint decree of the Ministries of the Interior, and Economy and Finance was published today in the Official Gazette."
France also said that it will ask the European Union to include Azhar in the list of people involved in terror attacks.
The release said, "We will raise this issue with our European partners with a view to including Masood Azhar on the European Union list of persons, groups and entities involved in terrorist acts, based on this decree."
France also said that it has "always been and always will be by India’s side" in the fight against terrorism.
The development comes even as China on March 13 blocked the listing of Masood Azhar as an international terrorist under the United Nations Security Council's 1267 committee. This is the fourth time China has blocked the listing of Azhar under the UN terror list.
France has come as one of the major supports of India and backed New Delhi's counter-terror operations against JeM camps in Pakistan saying, it "recognises India’s legitimacy to ensure its security against cross-border terrorism" and asked, "Pakistan to put an end to the operations of terrorist groups established on its territory."