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GEO TV NEWS Feb 14, 2018 ISLAMABAD: Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and its humanitarian arm Falahi Insaniyat Foundation (FIF) were banned across Pakistan with their moveable and immovable assets being frozen under the amended Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.  On Friday, February 9, the Ministry of Law and Justice announced that President of Pakistan Mamnoon Hussain amended the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 via Ordinance No II of 2018 to proscribe entities banned by the United Nations (Security Council) Act 1948. The following day the Ministry of Interior ordered the freezing and taking over of assets associated with JuD and FIF and directed provincial governments to implement the orders. The Punjab government has moved against JuD and FIF by taking over its seminaries and health facilities in Rawalpindi. The provincial government has also barred anyone from donating to JuD and FIF.  "We have received the interior ministry directions, and according to that, Hafiz Saeed and his...

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE Feb 14, 2018 Pakistan does itself no favours in the eyes of the international community when it appears tardy in moving on individuals and groups that most outside these borders have long regarded as terrorists or supporters of terrorists. The list of banned organisations alone is home to any number of names and organisations that despite being banned appear to operate, fundraise and rally with impunity. In a quiet move last Friday, President Mamnoon Hussain softly promulgated an ordinance that amended the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997 in respect of proscribing individuals identified as terrorists as well as their associated entities that are listed by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). On paper this could end a persistent ambiguity regarding the status of organisations such as Hafiz Saeed-linked Jamaatud Dawa and Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) and place them on the proscribed groups list. So far so good, but looking a little closer at the reaso...

The WIRE Asif Shahzad and Drazen Jorgic Feb 14, 2018 Islamabad: The United States has put forward a motion to place Pakistan on a global terrorist-financing watchlist with an anti-money laundering monitoring group, according to a senior Pakistani official. Pakistan has been scrambling in recent months to avert being added to a list of countries deemed non-compliant with terrorist financing regulations by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a measure officials fear could hurt its economy. The United States has been threatening to get tough with Islamabad over its alleged ties with Islamist militants, and last month President Donald Trump’s administration suspended aid worth about $2 billion. Islamabad, which denies assisting militants in Afghanistan and India, has reacted angrily to U.S. threats of further punitive measures. A meeting of FATF member states is due to take place next week in Paris, where the organization could adopt the motion on Pakistan. ...

The WIRE SYEDA HAMEED   February 14, 2018 Aslam Khwaja’s People’s Movements in Pakistan covers instances that rarely find mention in news in India, leading us to see common threads between resistance movements on both sides of the divide. In 1936, challenging colonial rule, Allama Iqbal wrote a masnavi,  ‘Pas che bayed kard ai aqwam e Sharq’ (What shall we do now, O people of the East?). This is the question we South Asians need to ask today given the rapidly declining relations especially between India and Pakistan. The answer to Iqbal’s question lies in a deeper understanding among both peoples. There lies the import of Aslam Khwaja’s book People’s Movements in Pakistan. It uncovers Pakistan’s peoples’ movements which very rarely find mention in the news in India despite the fact that there arre common threads between resistance movements on both sides of the divide. Speaking at the launch of the book, Siddharth Varadarajan, a founding editor of The Wire, s...

The Economic Times Neeraj Chauhan Feb 14, 2018 NEW DELHI: Pakistan’s move to surreptitiously promulgate an ordinance to proscribe Lashkar chief Hafiz Saeed’s ‘religious’ outfits Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation may not be enough to prevent the international antiterror funding watchdog, Financial Action Task Force (FATF), from “grey listing” Islamabad later this week. India’s proactive moves to establish that Pakistan’s “anti-terror” actions remained on paper and were a ruse to ward off an international rap may see FATF place Islamabad under increased scrutiny. India has shared information on Pakistan allowing UN sanctioned Saeed and his organisations JuD and FIF to collect funds used for terror strikes in India. Sources said the “grey list”, in which Pakistan was last named in 2012, affects international transactions from the country concerned as these would then be subject to greater scrutiny. Wary of international sanctions, Pakistan quietly promulgate...

DAWN Aamir Yasin February 14, 2018 RAWALPINDI: The Punjab government has started the process of taking over seminaries and health facilities run by Jamaatud Dawa (JuD) in Rawalpindi as it has taken control of the Hudabia Madressah on Chakra Road and asked the Auqaf department to assume its administration. The district administration has also taken control of four dispensaries run by the Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) — the charity wing of JuD — located on Chakra Road, Naseerabad, and adjoining areas of the city. The federal government has barred companies and individuals from giving donations to JuD, FIF and other organisations on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) sanctions list. Last month, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan issued a notification to all companies, prohibiting them from donating money to the entities and individuals listed under the UNSC sanctions committee’s consolidated list. The UNSC sanctions list includes the n...

DAWN Syed Irfan Raza February 14, 2018 ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet on Tuesday approved new rules to tighten the noose around banned outfits in the country and block their financial assistances. “The cabinet accorded approval, in principle, to Anti-Terrorism (Freezing and Seizure) Rules, 2018,” said a cabinet decision shared with the media. The decision was taken three days after President Mamnoon Hussain promulgated an ordinance that amended the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, with regard to proscription of terrorist individuals and organisations to include entities listed by the United Nations Security Council. A source privy to the cabinet meeting said the decision to allow seizing and freezing of terrorist assets would help ensure blocking of bank accounts of terrorist individuals and organisations. In a separate decision the cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, instructed the officials concerned to expedite the process for filling ...

DAWN February 14, 2018 The United States and its European allies have tabled a motion with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) with a view to placing Pakistan on a watchlist of countries considered non-compliant with global anti-terror financing measures, an exclusive Reuters report said on Tuesday. Miftah Ismail, Pakistan's de facto finance minister, told the news agency that the US and UK had nominated Pakistan to be put on the watchdog’s international money-laundering and terror-financing ‘grey list’ a few weeks ago, before France and Germany joined them as co-sponsors. "We are now working with the US, UK, Germany and France for the nomination to be withdrawn," Ismail, who is the adviser to the prime minister on finance, revenue and economic affairs, told Reuters. "We are also quite hopeful that even if the US did not withdraw the nomination that we will prevail and not be put on the watchlist." The motion against Pakistan could be adop...

DAWN Anwar Iqbal February 14, 2018 WASHINGTON: The Trump administration has asked Congress to approve $336 million of civil and military aid to Pakistan for the next fiscal year, arguing that the proposed military assistance will help defeat Al Qaeda and the militant Islamic State (IS) group. The total request is $10 million less than the previous year and links the defence assistance to Islamabad’s action against alleged terror safe havens on its soil. The proposed military assistance includes $80 million from the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) fund, $20 million less than $100 million from the last fiscal year. In 2017, the administration received $242.25 million for Pakistan from this fund. The 2019 proposals also mention that the FMF funds accumulated since 2017 include an OCO (Overseas Contin­gency Operations) component of $242.25 million. The budget not used in a given year, such as those for 2017 and 2018, can be carried forward to the next fiscal year, 20...

Reuters Drazen Jorgic and Asif Shahzad February 13, 2018 The United States has put forward a motion to place Pakistan on a global terrorist-financing watchlist with an anti-money-laundering monitoring group, according to a senior Pakistani official. Pakistan has been scrambling in recent months to avert being added to a list of countries deemed non-compliant with terrorist financing regulations by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a measure that officials fear could hurt its economy. The United States has been threatening to get tough with Islamabad over its alleged ties with Islamist militants, and last month President Donald Trump's administration suspended aid worth about $2 billion. Islamabad, which denies assisting militants in Afghanistan and India, has reacted angrily to U.S. threats of further punitive measures. A meeting of FATF member states is due to take place next week in Paris, where the organization could adopt the motion on Pakistan. ...

The Economic Times Rajat Pandit February 13, 2018 NEW DELHI: The defence ministry on Tuesday gave initial approvals to several acquisition proposals, including the one for 7.4 lakh new assault rifles and 16,500 light machine guns, collectively worth an estimated Rs 15,935 crore to bolster firepower of infantry soldiers a few days after the terror attack on the Sunjuwan+ Army camp in Jammu. The defence acquisition council (DAC), chaired by defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman, accorded acceptance of necessity (AON) to the proposals, for which formal tenders will now be floated to invite technical and commercial bids from armament companies. The entire process, including field trials, can take quite a few years before the contracts are actually inked and the production begins. The DAC, however, approved the "fast track procedure (FTP)" for the 16,500 light machine guns (LMGs) to be acquired from the global market at a cost of Rs 1,819 crore to ensure the projec...

The Economic Times Indrani Bhagchi February 15, 2018 NEW DELHI: An agreement to give Indian Navy access to the Duqm port in Oman will have far-reaching consequences for India’s strategic reach westwards and in the Indian Ocean. Seen together with the agreement with the UAE for joint naval exercises in the Persian Gulf in March, India is making slow but sure progress in pitching its presence in the area. Last month, India and Seychelles overcame domestic opposition in the island nation to sign a revised agreement for India to build “military infrastructure” in the island of Assumption. A similar agreement for Agalega Island in Mauritius already exists. In 2017, President Ram Nath Kovind made Djibouti his first overseas stop — India and Djibouti are likely to establish diplomatic relations this year with an Indian mission in that very important post on the Horn of Africa. India was somewhat late in acknowledging the importance of Duqm — the US built its presence there i...