Islamabad: The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has refused to take Pakistan out of the ‘Grey List’ yet again. It said Pakistan had failed to take appropriate action against UN-designated terrorists such as 26/11 accused Hafiz Saeed and JeM chief Masood Azhar. Although the global anti-money laundering and terror financing body has acknowledged some progress made by Pakistan, it said the country should continue to work to address its strategically-important deficiencies.
FATF president Marcus Pleyer said the decision was taken at the conclusion of the virtual plenary of the Paris-based organisation. Pakistan continues to remain on “increased monitoring list”, Pleyer said at a virtual press conference. “Increased monitoring list” is the another name for the Grey List.
Pleyer said Pakistan has now completed 26 of the 27 action items given to it in 2018. The FATF has asked Pakistan to take action against UN designated terrorists, he said. The UN designated terrorists based in Pakistan include Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Azhar, Lashker-e-Taiba founder Saeed and its “operational commander” Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi. All three are most wanted terrorists in India for their involvement in numerous terrorist acts.
On June 4, in a follow-up report published on Pakistan, the FATF had said, “Overall, Pakistan has made notable progress in addressing the technical compliance deficiencies identified in its MER and has been re-rated on 22 Recommendations.” Pleyer said the Pakistan government has failed to check risk of money laundering, leading to corruption and terror financing.
“The FATF encourages Pakistan to continue to make progress to address as soon as possible the one remaining Combating the Financing of Terrorism-related item by demonstrating that terror financing investigations and prosecutions target senior leaders and commanders of UN designated terrorist groups,” an FATF statement said.
