ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s government said it is committed to fulfilling demands made by the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to combat money laundering and terror financing.
“Fulfilling the FATF obligations will serve as an important message to the international community, particularly G-8 countries that wish to see strengthened compliance in Pakistan’s financial sector,” Dr. Vaqar Ahmed, an economist and joint executive director of the Islamabad-based Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), told Arab News.
Caretaker Prime Minister Nasir-ul-Mulk chaired a high-level meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) in Islamabad on Friday to discuss measures to combat money laundering and terror financing, his office said.
Civilian and military leaders attended the meeting, which also reviewed Pakistan’s overall economic situation.
The participants “reiterated a firm commitment” to fulfilling FATF obligations regarding combating money laundering and terror financing, the prime minister’s office said.
“Pakistan’s stock market is feeling jittery, and a pragmatic approach to fulfilling FATF obligations will give confidence to the market and investors,” Ahmed said.
On June 30, caretaker Finance Minister Dr. Shamshad Akhtar reiterated the government’s resolve to strengthen measures against terrorism and terror financing.
Pakistan ready to meet FATF demands — Govt
Pakistan ready to meet FATF demands — Govt
- The government says it is committed to fulfilling demands made by the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to combat money laundering and terror financing
- On June 30, caretaker Finance Minister Dr. Shamshad Akhtar reiterated the government’s resolve to strengthen measures against terrorism and terror financing
French publisher recalls dictionary over ‘Jewish settler’ reference
- The entry in French reads: “In October 2023, following the death of more than 1,200 Jewish settlers in a series of Hamas attacks”
- The four books are subject to a recall procedure and will be destroyed, Hachette said
PARSI: French publisher Hachette on Friday said it had recalled a dictionary that described the Israeli victims of the October 7, 2023 attacks as “Jewish settlers” and promised to review all its textbooks and educational materials.
The Larousse dictionary for 11- to 15-year-old students contained the same phrase as that discovered by an anti-racism body in three revision books, the company told AFP.
The entry in French reads: “In October 2023, following the death of more than 1,200 Jewish settlers in a series of Hamas attacks, Israel decided to tighten its economic blockade and invade a large part of the Gaza Strip, triggering a major humanitarian crisis in the region.”
The worst attack in Israeli history saw militants from the Palestinian Islamist group kill around 1,200 people in settlements close to the Gaza Strip and at a music festival.
“Jewish settlers” is a term used to describe Israelis living on illegally occupied Palestinian land.
The four books, which were immediately withdrawn from sale, are subject to a recall procedure and will be destroyed, Hachette said, promising a “thorough review of its textbooks, educational materials and dictionaries.”
France’s leading publishing group, which came under the control of the ultra-conservative Vincent Bollore at the end of 2023, has begun an internal inquiry “to determine how such an error was made.”
It promised to put in place “a new, strengthened verification process for all its future publications” in these series.
President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday said that it was “intolerable” that the revision books for the French school leavers’ exam, the baccalaureat, “falsify the facts” about the “terrorist and antisemitic attacks by Hamas.”
“Revisionism has no place in the Republic,” he wrote on X.
Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people, with 251 people taken hostage, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Authorities in Gaza estimate that more than 70,000 people have been killed by Israeli forces during their bombardment of the territory since, while nearly 80 percent of buildings have been destroyed or damaged, according to UN data.
Israeli forces have killed at least 447 Palestinians in Gaza since a ceasefire took effect in October, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
