By Muhammad Luqman
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal has said that the country was made a target of politics at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) meeting recently held in the French capital, Paris. ”Pakistan has taken solid steps against money terrorism, terror-financing and extremism , much more than several countries ; But what is happening in Afghanistan is major source of pressure on Pakistan,” he told media in eastern city of Lahore. He regretted that Indian media has wrongly propagated that Pakistan had been included in the watch list of the FATF. “It is premature to conclude anything at the moment as the final verdict of the body would be announced in June next,” Ahsan Iqbal said. On Friday, Indian media and Reuters, quoting sources, had claimed that Pakistan had been added to the grey-list of the global money-laundering watchdog. However, the list, called ‘jurisdictions with strategic deficiencies’ available on FATF’s website, does not include Pakistan. The list includes the names of Ethiopia, Iraq, Serbia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Vanuatu, and Yemen. Ahsan Iqbal said that Pakistan would see no substantial effect on its economy if placed on the FATF grey-list. He said that Pakistan was placed on the list between 2012 and 2015. So if placed on the list again, it would not be something extra-ordinary. FATF is a global body that combats terrorist financing and money laundering. Pakistan has been trying in recent months to avoid being added to a list of countries deemed non-compliant with anti-money laundering and terrorist financing regulations by the FATF. The next plenary meeting of FATF is expected to take place in June this year.
