Pakistan back on global terror financing list

There is no official intimation of FATF decision yet and we should not speculate till official statement is released — Ahsan Iqbal,

Pak interior minister ◗ Pakistani officials and analysts fear being on the FATF list could endanger Pakistan’s handful of remaining banking links to the outside world, causing real financial pain to the economy just as a general election looms

A global money- laundering watchdog has decided to place Pakistan back on its terrorist financing watchlist, a government official said on Friday, in a likely blow to Pakistan’s economy and its strained relations with the US.

The move is part of a broader US strategy to pressure Pakistan to cut alleged links to Islamist terrorists unleashing chaos in neighbouring Afghanistan and backing attacks in India.

Pakistani officials and analysts fear being on the Financial Action Task Force ( FATF) list could endanger Pakistan’s handful of remaining banking links to the outside world, causing real financial pain to the economy just as a general election looms.

At a meeting in Paris, the FATF on Thursday decided to place Pakistan on a so- called “grey list” of nations that are not doing enough to combat terrorism financing, after the Gulf Cooperation Council and China withdrew

their opposition to the move.

Islamabad had launched last- minute efforts to avoid being placed on the list, but the campaign proved insufficient and FATF decided to put Pakistan back on the watchlist in June.