Maulana Masood Azhar, head of Pakistan's militant Jaish-e-Mohammad party, attends a pro-Taliban conference organised by the Afghan Defence Council in Islamabad August 26, 2001. Azhar, who was freed by India in exchange for the release of an Indian aircraft hijacked to Afghanistan in 1999, said that U.N. monitors should not be placed in Pakistan and that his followers would lay down their lives to force them out. MK/JD
Islamabad, Pakistan:
Pakistan is scrambling to play down the rebellious Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)’s marauding of innocent civilians in the Swat Valley, but also convince the FATF that Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) chief, Masood Azhar, is absconding and is not being sheltered on Pakistan territory, reported Islam Khabar.
Pakistan’s record on the flow of funds into terrorist activities has been under sustained scrutiny by FATF which has placed it on the ‘grey’ list since 2018.
Pakistan has to explain not only Azhar but also the role of his chief aide, Sajid Mir, besides others who conduct their activities in and out of Pakistan in a shadowy manner.
For form’s sake, Islamabad has sent a formal letter to Kabul, ruled by an intransigent Taliban group, to locate Azhar. But it can expect no cooperation for a simple reason: Kabul is not obliged to help Islamabad and it is not affected by the FATF scrutiny, reported Islam Khabar.
Indeed, the entire Afghanistan-Pakistan region is a hotbed of terrorist activity and its massive financing, partly from the huge quantities of narcotics that Afghanistan produces year after year, irrespective of who rules in Kabul.
Of course, both nations deny the presence of any terrorist group, when affiliates of Al Qaida and Islamic State – Province of Khorasan (ISPK) are having a field day.
As for the TTP, it has claimed responsibility for nearly 13 attacks in the tribal areas since September 2, leaving nobody in doubt of its growing clout, continued defiance of the government and tacit support it enjoys from the Kabul regime.
On the TTP’s role, Dawn newspaper (September 14, 2022) referred to a debate in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial assembly when lawmakers “pointed to the rising incidents of gun attacks, targeted killings and extortion in the sensitive area, while it was also said that militants were roaming around freely in parts of the province.”
The FATF sent a team this month to see on-the-ground enforcement of the measures against money laundering. On return from the visit, it reported that Pakistan’s capability to enforce the anti-terror measures remains ‘low,’ Pakistani newspapers reported last week, reported Islam Khabar.
In an editorial (September 14, 2022), Dawn newspaper linked FATF and militancy and noted that Pakistan’s level of effectiveness is “low” on 10 of 11 anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terror goals, even though the country is compliant with 38 out of 40 technical recommendations.”
With Pakistan facing multiple crises, the newspaper demanded transparency on dealing with the FATF as it “simply cannot afford to ignore this matter, as being put back on the grey list will impact the country’s ability to attract foreign investment and trade freely with the world.”
Analysts say this is too tall a demand that the government and its military mentors are unlikely to yield, mainly because they are part of the problem, not the solution, reported Islam Khabar.
