ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Finance expressed hope on Wednesday that Pakistan would be removed from the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) grey list this month, as it has done its best to implement the global watchdog’s 27-point action plan to curb money-laundering and terrorism financing.
The FATF’s five-day plenary session begins in Paris on Feb. 16 wherein it would decide whether to remove Pakistan from its grey list, or downgrade it further to the black list.
“We are hopeful and optimistic that we will be removed from the FATF’s grey list,” Mansoor Hassan Siddiqui, director general for the Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU) of the Ministry of Finance, told Arab News.
The FMU is Pakistan’s Financial Intelligence Unit, authorized to track all suspicious monetary transactions through banking channels and to alert relevant authorities to curb money-laundering and terrorism financing through official financial channels.
“All relevant authorities (in Pakistan) have put their best collectively to implement the FATF’s action plan,” Siddiqui said. “Pakistan is in much better position comparatively in terms of its results and in terms of its performance.”
Islamabad was placed on the FATF’s grey list in June 2018, after the 37-member global watchdog found deficiencies in the country’s legal framework to counter terrorism financing. Since then, the country has been struggling to plug loopholes in its financial system to satisfy the organization’s criteria.
Pakistan was cleared of 14 of the 27 points at the Asia Pacific Group meeting held in Beijing, on Jan. 21-23. The United States, that had spearheaded the move to place Pakistan on the FATF’s grey list, has reportedly supported it in Beijing for the counter money-laundering and terrorism financing measures Islamabad has been implementing.
“We have done our best … now let’s see how the FATF members and plenary assess our performance,” Siddiqui said.
Economic experts who have closely worked with the government to meet the FATF’s requirements are also hopeful for Pakistan’s exit from the so-called grey list.
“If we see on technical grounds, Pakistan has performed well to ensure the FATF compliance with help of numerous foreign technical experts,” said Dr. Vaqar Ahmed, senior economist and director at the Islamabad-based think tank Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI).
Ahmed told Arab News the FMU had also established an “effective coordination system” between the center and provinces to strengthen registration and monitoring of non-profit organizations, besides increasing surveillance of bank accounts.
He said that Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts will also prove vital to exiting the grey list. “The diplomatic push with the friendly countries is important to win their support in the FATF plenary,” he added
According to the FATF charter, Pakistan would need 12 votes to get off the grey list and three votes to avoid blacklisting.
Pakistan hopes to get off FATF’s grey list this month
https://arab.news/pmhzh
Pakistan hopes to get off FATF’s grey list this month
- Islamabad was placed on the FATF’s grey list in June 2018
- FATF’s five-day plenary session begins on Feb. 16
Pakistan rules out talks with Afghanistan, says over 330 Afghan fighters killed in clashes
- Clashes between the neighbors erupted after Pakistan’s airstrikes on Afghan territory last weekend
- US voices support for Pakistan, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar says they aim to make Pakistan safe
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has ruled out any talks with Afghanistan until an end to “terrorism” emanating from the Afghan soil, officials said on Friday, following the killing of more than 330 Afghan fighters in cross-border clashes this week.
The latest clashes between the neighbors erupted after Pakistan’s airstrikes on Afghan territory last weekend triggered Afghan retaliatory attacks along the border on Thursday, escalating long‑simmering tensions over Pakistan’s claim that Afghanistan shelters Pakistani Taliban militants. Afghanistan denies this and argues Pakistan is deflecting blame for its own security failures.
Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said they had killed 331 Afghan fighters, destroyed over 100 posts and targeted 37 military locations across Afghanistan. Afghan officials have said that more than 50 Pakistani soldiers have been killed and several Pakistan posts have been captured by their forces. None of the casualty figures or battlefield claims from either side could be independently verified.
Meanwhile, Mosharraf Zaidi, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s spokesperson for foreign media, ruled out any talks with Afghanistan until Kabul addresses the issue as the United States (US) expressed his support for what it called Pakistan’s “right to defend itself” against attacks from Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers.
“There won’t be any talks, there is nothing to talk about... Terrorism from Afghanistan has to end,” Zaidi told Pakistani state media, saying Islamabad would continue to target militant havens inside Afghanistan.
“Pakistan’s responsibility is to protect its citizens. If we know that there is a terrorist in point A and we know that there is a terrorist enabler at point A, we will find a weapon to land at point A and eliminate the threat.”
Zaidi said he didn’t expect Pakistan to deviate from this position and that the government had clearly conveyed what it was doing.
“We have clearly articulated what we are doing and what we plan on continuing to do and what it will take for us to stop doing what we are doing,” Zaidi said.
“And we will expect that both the international community and the regime in question, the Afghan Taliban, will come to their senses and will help reduce instability and disorder in this region.”
Pakistan is a major non-NATO ally of Washington, while the US considers the Afghan Taliban to be a “terrorist” group.
“The United States supports Pakistan’s right to defend itself against attacks from the Taliban, a Specially Designated Global Terrorist group,” Reuters quoted a State Department spokesperson as saying. US diplomat Allison Hooker said on X she spoke on Friday with Pakistan Foreign Secretary Amna Baloch.
The State Department spokesperson said Washington was aware of the escalation in tensions and “outbreak of fighting between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban,” adding the US was “saddened by the loss of life.”
“The Taliban have consistently failed to uphold their counterterrorism commitments,” the State Department said, adding that “terrorist groups use Afghanistan as a launching pad for their heinous attacks.”
Meanwhile, Afghan Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid called for talks to resolve the crisis.
“We have always emphasized peaceful resolution, and now too we want the issue to be resolved through dialogue,” he said on Friday afternoon.
Asked what Pakistan desired, Information Minister Tarar said: “Neutralizing the threat and ensuring that Pakistan is safe.”
“Because for us, we’ve been good neighbors, we’ve been very friendly neighbors, we’ve been very, very generous neighbors. Our generosity, unfortunately, has often been seen as our weakness,” he told state media.
“So the objective, aim is to neutralize the threat and make Pakistan safe.”
To a question about a ceasefire, Tarar said it was “too early” to comment on that as it was an evolving situation.
