Pakistan Took No Action Against 26/11 Mastermind Hafiz Saeed, Says FATF in Setback for Imran Govt

New Delhi: In a major setback for the Imran Khan government in Pakistan, Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the international money laundering watchdog, on Monday said the country has not taken sufficient measures to fully implement UNSCR 1267 obligations against 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed and other terrorists associated with terrorist groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jamaat-ud-Dawa.

After closely scrutinising Pakistan’s progress record on curbing money flows to terrorists and terrorist organisations, FATF said that Pakistan must “identify, assess and understand its money laundering, terror financing risks, including transnational risks and risks associated with terrorist groups” operating from its soil.

The FATF statement is part of a report published by its regional body, the Asia Pacific Group (APG), which states that Islamabad has largely but partially complied with 36 of the 40 parameters set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) at the time of the country’s inclusion in the grey list.

"With the exception of some recent actions discussed in detail below, Pakistan has not taken sufficient measures to fully implement UNSCR 1267 obligations against all listed individuals and entities - especially those associated with Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT)/Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), and Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) as well as the groups' leader Hafiz Saeed," the report says.

The report also calls into question decisions taken by the Pakistani establishment without taking them to their logical conclusion such as, "In February 2018, Pakistan passed the Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Ordinance 2018, which amended the ATA to automatically proscribe individuals and entities listed at the United Nations. Immediately, following the adoption of this amendment, Pakistan seized numerous articles of property belonging to JuD/FIF, after minimal actions had been taken prior to this point."

The report strengthens India's case for the FATF plenary in Paris next week. The October 13-18 meet will consider the findings of the mutual evaluation report (MER) on Pakistan brought out by APG on money laundering.