ISLAMABAD – The United Nations has rejected an appeal of Lashkar-e-Taiba(LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed, to remove his name from its list of bannedterrorists, sources said on Thursday.

The UN decision to reject appeal of Saeed, also a co-founder ofLashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was conveyed to his lawyer Haider Rasul Mirza earlierthis week.

Saeed, chief of UN-designated terrorist organisation Jammat-ud-Dawa (JuD),was banned on December 10, 2008 by the United Nations Security Council.

Saeed had filed an appeal with the UN through Lahore-based law firm Mirzaand Mirza in 2017, while he was still under house arrest in Pakistan, forremoval of the ban.

Independent Ombudsperson Daniel Kipfer Fasciati, appointed by the UN toexamine all such requests, has informed Saeed’s lawyer that it has beendecided following examination of his request that he will “continue as alisted individual”, sources said.

The Ombudsperson recommended that after gathering all information, it hasbeen decided to continue with the ban as “there was sufficient informationto provide a reasonable and credible basis for continuing the listing,”sources said, adding the recommendation was endorsed by the UN’s SanctionsCommittee.