With the meeting of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Pakistan's fate on the listings scheduled to take place on Thursday, a political expert Tom Rogan has said that if Islamabad is removed from the grey list, the terrorists world over will celebrate, reported Washington Examiner.
"Pakist Prime Minister Imran Khan offers rhetorical fastballs, but innocent Pakist Muslims pay dearest for his failings. Were Pakistan to be removed from the grey list, terrorists the world over would celebrate," said Rogan.
Globally, Pakistan has been condemned for its track-record on terror financing and it is pushing hard for the FATF to ratify that it has met benchmarks and should be removed from the grey list.
The meeting will consider Pakistan's progress in addressing numerous recommendations.
The findings are hugely important to Pakistan in that the FATF wields significant influence over how international banking institutions approach nations with terrorist financing concerns. Where nations are blacklisted by the FATF, or, as is the present case with Pakistan, greylisted, they suffer impediment to smooth capital flows, foreign investment complications, and generally higher banking fees reported Washington Examiner.
Rogan, who wrote an article on Pakistan's FATF greylisting in Washington Examiner advised the Biden administration to exert all necessary pressure on the FATF and US allies within the orgsation to ensure that Pakistan is pinned down for its abysmal record on terror-financing.
The actions of Pakistan are evident enough that Pakistan is not serious about countering terrorist financing.
Take the Pakistan Supreme Court's recent freeing of Ahmad Omar Sheikh, the killer of American journalist Del Pearl. Pakistan had already allowed most involved in that 2002 terrorist atrocity to escape justice.
In order to save its face from global condemnation and escape FATF's deliberations, Imran Khan's government appealed its decision.
The reaction of Supreme Court Justice Omar Ata Bandyal said it all. Rejecting the appeal, the judge instead ordered that Sheikh "be moved to a comfortable residential environment, something like a rest house where he can live a normal life."
"The facts demand that Pakistan remain on the grey list. The FATF shouldn't simply keep Pakistan on the grey list. It should warn Islamabad that absent rapid and wide-ranging reform, blacklisting is coming," said Rogan.
Earlier, the September FATF report showed that Pakistan remains highly deficient in terrorist financing concerns. For example, while Pakistan has introduced some new regulations, it completely lacks enforcement procedures. Islamabad has no interest in confronting the patronage relationships that sustain dozens of jihadist groups across its territory, reported Washington Examiner.
Moreover, if Pakistan is given leeway, India, a rising strategic partner of the US, will question the power of Washington's influence.
India has suffered greatly from Pakist terrorism and knows Islamabad's policy of running with the hare and hunting with the hounds - simultaneously condemning terrorists and enabling them.
( With inputs from ANI )
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