Hafiz Saeed’s JuD, FIF no more on banned outfits’ list
A presidential ordinance that banned the Jamaatud-Dawah (JuD) and Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation (FIF), both fronts for the Lashkar-e-Taiba founded by Hafiz Saeed, has lapsed, a top law officer has informed a court in Islamabad.
Deputy attorney general Raja Khalid Mehmood Khan confirmed on Thursday that the ordinance had lapsed while the Islamabad high court was hearing a petition filed by Saeed challenging the ban on JuD and FIF.
Saeed’s lawyers Raja Rizwan Abbasi and Sohail Warraich told Justice Aamer Farooq of the high court that the ordinance had not been extended.
There was no formal response from the external affairs ministry in New Delhi, though a government official said: “The decision reflects lack of sincerity on the part of Pakistan’s to meet its international obligation to fight terrorism.”
The ordinance was issued by in February by then president Mamnoon Hussain to amend the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997 to proscribe terrorist individuals and organisations sanctioned under UN Security Council resolution 1267.
The move was primarily aimed at the JuD and FIF, which were on a “watch list” maintained by Pakistan’s interior ministry, and aimed at deflecting pressure from the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force, which had been approached by the US and other Western powers to put Pakistan on its “grey list” for failing to curb terror financing.
Despite the action taken by Pakistan, FATF opted to put the country on its watch list in June. Since then, FATF has finalised an action plan for Pakistan to comply with in order to be removed from the grey list by 2019.
According to a list updated on September 5 by Pakistan’s National Counter Terrorism Authority, 66 groups have been banned in the country but JuD and FIF are not among them. The two groups linked to Saeed continue to be “under watch by the interior ministry”.