Global watchdog set to put Pak back on watchlist for financing terrorists
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is set to include Pakistan in its “grey list” of nations not doing enough to counter terror financing and money laundering after the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and China withdraw their opposition to the move.
A formal announcement was expected late on Friday.
Multiple sources in New Delhi and Islamabad said a plenary meeting of the FATF in Paris passed a US-backed resolution to list Pakistan after the GCC and China withdrew their objections. The resolution was initially opposed by Saudi Arabia, which was acting on behalf of GCC, China and Turkey. In the final vote, only Turkey backed Pakistan, sources said. Besides the US, the resolution was backed by the UK, Germany and France.
The Western powers lobbied other nations and were successful in last-minute turnaround.
The FATF had reviewed action taken so far by Pakistan to crack down on the financing of the Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) and Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation (FIF), two groups linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed that have been sanctioned by the UN Security Council.
Pakistan had lobbied for supand
NEW DELHI:
It could endanger Pakistan's handful of remaining banking links to the outside world
Cost of doing business will increase and foreign investment may dry up
Ahead of the FATF meet, Pakistan changed its laws to proscribe terror entities identified by UN Security Council resolutions
It has since frozen and taken over some assets of Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed’s Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and related charity Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation (FiF)
NOT THE FIRST TIME: Pakistan was in FATF ‘grey list’ from 2012 to 2015
port in Western capitals and even turned to Russia to prevent its inclusion in the grey list, from which it was removed in 2015 after three years.
It had also made last-ditch efforts to show to the world community that it was cracking down on the JuD and FIF, including an amendment of its Anti-Terrorism Act to list UN Security Councilsanctioned groups as banned organizations. Authorities also took over several centres, seminaries, healthcare facilities and dispensaries operated by the JuD
The financial consequences would not kick in until June, which, in theory, could allow Pakistan time to fix financing issues
FIF.
However, no action was taken against Saeed and Pakistan’s attorney general said another notification from the interior ministry was needed to formally ban the JuD and FIF.
A resolution at the FATF can be blocked if it is opposed by at least three members. Saudi Arabia’s initial backing for Pakistan came days after Islamabad announced it would send more than 1,000 troops to the kingdom, almost doubling the number of Pakistani troops there.