Pakistan takes steps to get out of blacklist

ISLAMABAD: There are half a dozen primary sources of terror financing having roots in Pakistan and across the border, according to a Terrorist Financing Risk Assessment report prepared by Pakistan government as part of efforts to remove the country from the FATF’S grey list.

Pakistan believes it has been made the victim of international politics and the government’s positive role in bringing the Taliban and the US to the negotiating table may help ease international pressure on the country, officials privy to the report told the media.

The report was prepared as part of the implementation of a 27-point action plan the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) handed over to Pakistan as a prerequisite for being removed from its grey list. It was presented at a meeting on Tuesday of the National Executive Committee (NEC) on anti-money laundering, which is chaired by finance minister Asad Umar.

“After detailed deliberations on various aspects of the assessment report, the NEC approved the same subject to addressing certain observations in respect of key policy and legislative areas,” said a statement from the finance ministry.

This was the first comprehensive risk assessment report prepared by the government. It was jointly framed by the National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta) and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). The report identified sources of terror financing and made recommendations for plugging loopholes, but in most instances, it blamed outside forces for being behind the problem, officials said.

The report contended that hostile agencies were fuelling terrorism in Pakistan by providing funding to “sub-national terror groups”. It identified foreign funding, drug trafficking, kidnapping for ransom, extortion, robbery and bank heists as the primary sources of such funding in Pakistan. WASHINGTON: The Donald Trump administration will withdraw all of the 2,000 American troops in Syria, according to a US official, as the White House declared victory on Wednesday in the mission to defeat Islamic State (IS) militants there.

Planning for the pull-out has begun and troops will begin leaving as soon as possible, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. US President Trump said American forces no longer were needed in a country torn apart by civil war.

Trump has said since he was a presidential candidate that he wanted to bring back troops from West Asia. But officials have said in recent weeks that pockets of IS militants remain.

US policy has been that American forces would stay in place until the extremists were eradicated. Pentagon and other officials have said that US troops were countering Iran-backed militants in Syria, which was an expansion of the US mission.

Trump said on Twitter, “We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency.”

His tweet followed a series of news reports that the US was preparing to withdraw its troops from Syria.