Pakistan vows to implement plan to end terror financing

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - The Foreign Ministry on Thursday said Pakistan is now officially in the gray list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an international terrorism financing watchdog, following its failure to curb terror financing on its soil.

“In February 2018, during the FATF plenary session in Paris, it was agreed that Pakistan will be included in the ‘gray list’ in June 2018,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Dr. Muhammad Faisal told a weekly press briefing in capital Islamabad.

It was also agreed, he added, that an action plan would be negotiated between Pakistan and the FATF members by June, which has now been done.

“Pakistan will work towards effective implementation of the action plan, while staying in the gray list,” he said.

The spokesman said Pakistan was in a similar situation in 2011 when it was included in the gray list and was taken out only in 2015 after it successfully implemented an action plan.

Despite Pakistan’s best diplomatic campaign, the FATF took the decision to place Islamabad on its “gray list” in its plenary meeting on Wednesday in Paris. The move means the country will remain under direct FATF scrutiny until it gets satisfied by the measures taken to weed out terror financing and money laundering.

The 37-nation watchdog had placed Pakistan on a watch-list after Turkey, China, and Saudi Arabia opposed the U.S.-led resolution against Islamabad in February this year.

Islamabad, in recent months, did take some steps to avoid the designation, which includes, no foreign currency transactions without national tax number, and ban on currency change of up to $500 in the open currency market without submission of a national identity card copy.

In addition to that, Islamabad has also proscribed several militant groups and seized their assets, including Jamat-ud-Dawa’h -- a group blamed for 2009 deadly Mumbai attacks, which killed over 150 people.

The steps, however, could not persuade member states, especially the United States, which had not only pushed for an unprecedented second discussion on Feb. 22 but also persuaded Riyadh to withdraw its support. Riyadh’s withdrawal had left only Ankara and Beijing alongside Pakistan -- one less than the required number of three members to halt the move.