FATF list: NA body for choking funding of banned outfits after US reservations

• NA body calls FATF move a denial of Pakistan’s sacrifices in the war on terror 

ISLAMABAD: Following the United States’ concerns about Pakistan’s anti-money laundering and counterterrorism laws, the National Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs directed all the concerned agencies to put curbs on fundraising campaigns of the banned outfits.

In an in-camera session of the committee, it was decided after restricting all the banned outfits in accordance with the UN Resolution 1267, measures would be taken to restrict the fundraising campaigns as well.

An intra-agency task force is also taking part to curb the activities of these banned outfits.

The committee noted that including Pakistan’s name in the watch list of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is highly regretful and it’s a denial from America of Pakistan’s sacrifices in the fight against terrorism.

Majority of committee members were of the view that inclusion of Pakistan’s name in the watch list is a failure of Pakistan foreign policy and rejected all excuses of Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua, as it said that India is taking full advantage of this entire situation.

Talking to media after the session, the chairman of the committee, Khusro Bhaktiyar, said that committee asked the finance and interior secretaries for briefing the in next meeting concerning the aftereffects of being placed on the list.

Earlier in the day, US State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert said that the US had indeed sent a resolution to FATF to place Pakistan on a global terror-financing watch-list as it has concerns regarding Pakistan’s money laundering and counterterrorism laws.

“The international community has a longstanding concern when it comes to the government of Pakistan about what we consider to be deficiencies in the implementation of anti-money laundering, counterterrorism and other types of issues similar to that,” Nauert told reporters at her daily news conference.

Nauert was asked about Pakistan Minister of State for Finance Rana Afzal’s remarks that the US is seeking to place Islamabad on an international terrorist-financing watch-list.

Afzal had told the Senate that the move to put Pakistan on the terrorist financing watch-list is a political manoeuvre on the part of the US and the UK to hamper Pakistan’s economic progress.

Asked about Pakistan minister’s assertion, Nauert said, “What this group, FATF, does is that it promotes better measures to crack down on counterterrorism or to work against terrorism and also money laundering as well. Some of those deliberations, I can’t confirm what took place because those are considered to be private.”

Recently, the US and UK moved a motion to place Pakistan on a global terror-financing watch-list. This move was met with criticism by the Pakistani authorities who denounced it as a conspiracy and highlighted the severe consequences it would have on Pakistan’s economy.