Financial Action Task Force set to include Pakistan in its ‘grey list’ of nations

Hindustam Times, Rezaul H Laskar, Feb 23, 2018

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 is expected later 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 the 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 support 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 Council-sanctioned groups as banned organizations. Authorities also took over several centres, seminaries, healthcare facilities and dispensaries operated by the JuD and 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. Pakistani already has more than 1,500 troops in the kingdom to train Saudi forces.
The US has turned up the pressure on Pakistan for not doing enough to counter terror groups. It has help up security-related assistance worth almost $2 billion and threatened further aid cuts.
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