France has decided to freeze the assets of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) founder and leader Masood Azhar, the French government said on Friday. A joint statement issued by the French interior ministry, finance ministry and foreign ministry said that France will also discuss putting Masood Azhar on a European Union list of people suspected of being involved in terrorism. The decision by the French authorities comes days after China put on hold their joint request along with Britain and the United States to put Azhar on the United Nations terror. It was the third time that the UN Security Council was considering a request to put the JeM chief on the UN sanctions blacklist, which will subject him to a global travel ban and assets freeze. In a note sent to the UN Security Council, China had said that it needed more time to examine the sanctions request targeting Masood Azhar. “We already stressed China’s position on the listing of terrorist organisations and individuals in the UN Security Council 1267 Committee on many occasions. China has all along participated in relevant discussions in a responsible manner and in strict accordance with the rules of procedure and provisions of the 1267 committee. Published in Daily Times, March 16th 2019.