Former President of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and an open supporter of terrorist organisations, Masood Khan, has been appointed as Pakistan's Ambassador to Washington DC.
According to the National Review, Masood Khan has a long history of working with jihadists and Islamists.
"Pakistan’s image is perhaps at its lowest point. Its role in aiding the Taliban has been acknowledged and discussed in parliaments and press outlets all across the world, particularly following the collapse of the Afghan government and the revival of a brutal theocracy," the New York-based outlet said.
"He is a dangerous radical with a long history of working with Islamists in the West and jihadists in the East," the National Review wrote, adding: "His appointment is evidence of an increasingly dangerous Pakistani regime, which is working to coopt and support Islamists all around the world, including in the United States."
The article's author, Sam Westrop, highlights that in July 2021, Khan gave a “special message” on the “fifth martyrdom anniversary of Kashmir’s most beloved freedom fighter,” Burhan Wani, a commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen, a designated terrorist organisation under U.S. law.
Wani persuaded Kashmiris to “join the holy war” against India, offering the “promise of a fulfilled life hereafter.”
Khan claimed Wani was a “role model for the freedom fighters across the globe” and that “the liberation of Kashmir and a defeat of India is the writing on the wall.”
The now Ambassador to Washington declared that U.S. sanctions against the terrorist group’s leader, Syed Salahuddin, were “unjustified."
Masood Khan is also a supporter of the violent South Asian Islamist movement Jamaat-e-Islami, whose killing squads helped the Pakistani military carry out acts of genocide against Bangladeshis in 1971.
Statements published on the official website of the president of Azad Kashmir feature excerpts of speeches Khan has given at Jamaat-e-Islami demonstrations and events, in which he “paid tributes to Jamaat Islami Pakistan for playing an active role in Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.”
In 2019, journalist Abdullah Bozkurt tweeted photos of Masood Khan “visiting Turkish intelligence linked charity outfit #IHH that is accused of sending arms, supplies to al-Qaeda linked jihadist groups in #Syria & #Libya,”adding that “IHH runs operations in Kashmir area.” Branches of the IHH have been designated as terrorist organizations in Germany, the Netherlands, and Israel.
Westrop concludes his articles by highlighting that "Masood Khan is the latest example of a renascent theocratic Pakistan."
"His tenure in D.C. will empower radicals in both the U.S. and South Asia.
"He is an open supporter of U.S.-designated terrorists, dressed in the niceties of international diplomacy. Although foreign ambassadors are rarely rejected by Western countries, the Biden administration should at least consider this option for Masood Khan."
