Pakistan scrambles to stay out of terror funding ‘grey list’
Pakistan is scrambling to steer clear of a global watch list for terrorism financing, the latest US pressure tactic to get it to crack down on militants crossing the border to fight in Afghanistan.
Financial Action Task Force, an intergovernmental organisation that combats money laundering and terrorist financing, began its weeklong meeting in Paris on Sunday. The plenary session of the global anti-money laundering monitoring group will review the resolution to put Pakistan back on “grey list”.
Pakistan, which was on the list from 2012 to 2015, began seizing assets and funds belonging to Islamic charities linked to Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed. It has also amended an anti-terrorism law to allow authorities to act against charities, groups or individuals blacklisted by the UN Security Council.
“This suggests that Islamabad recognises the very real negative economic consequences of getting put on the watch list,” said Michael Kugelman, a senior associate for South Asia at the Wilson Center in Washington.
The designation could deter foreign investment and hurt Pakistan’s access to international financial markets.
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NO TERROR CAMPS ON PAKISTAN SOIL: BAJWA
Meanwhile, Pakistani Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa has claimed there were no terror camps in the country.
“I can say with pride and conviction that there are no organised camps on our side of the border,” he told the Munich Security Conference on Saturday. “However, presence of terrorists of various hues and colours cannot be ruled out. We still have their active and sleeper cells and they are hiding in mountains, border towns and 54 refugee camps, besides some major town and cities.” He further claimed that of the last 130 terrorist attacks in Pakistan’s border areas last year, 123 were conceived, planned and executed from Afghanistan. AGENCIES