FATF said it monitors the risks of terrorist financing (representative)
New Delhi:
The FATF said on Monday that several terrorist groups continued to benefit from funds raised through illegal activities and supporters worldwide, despite the international watchdog of terrorist financing tightening standards for money flow.
India has claimed that Pakistan regularly supports terrorist groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Hizbul Mujahideen, whose main goal is India, and has asked the FATF to take action against Islamabad.
The week-long plenary session of the Financial Action Task Force, which is currently taking place in Paris, will decide on the fate of Pakistan – whether it remains on the FATF gray list, is blacklisted, or leaves the FATF listing.
Without naming Pakistan, the FATF said in a statement that terrorists use various methods to obtain funding, including using social media to identify new followers and solicit financial or other forms of material support.
People who agree with humanitarian concerns or are prone to violent messages are often affected, it said.
"The FATF has tightened its terrorist financing standards, which has contributed to disrupting access to funds for groups such as ISIL and Al-Qaida. However, various groups continue to benefit from funds raised through illegal activities and from supporters worldwide "said the FATF, based in Paris.
The FATF said it monitors the risks of terrorist financing and assists the authorities in tracing funds to strengthen law enforcement.
"The FATF is also monitoring illegal funding through new payment methods such as cryptocurrencies," it said.
The plenary examines the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing to which countries are exposed in order to set and promote global standards to combat these risks.
Last week, an anti-terrorist court in Pakistan sentenced Hafiz Saeed, the pioneer of the Mumbai attack in 2008 and founder of LeT, to 11 years in prison in two terrorist financing cases.
The move took place just four days before the plenary session of FATF Paris.
Saeed, a United Nations-designated terrorist to whom the United States has imposed a $ 10 million bounty, was arrested on July 17, 2019 in terrorist financing cases. The 70-year-old fiery priest is being held in Kot Lakhpat maximum security prison in Pakistan.
Pakistan recently told FATF that JeM founder Masood Azhar and his family are "missing".
Pakistan has claimed that there were only 16 United Nations-designated terrorists in Pakistan, "seven of whom are dead".
Of the nine living, seven had applied to the United Nations for exemption from financial and travel restrictions.
Pakistan needs 12 out of 39 votes to leave the "gray list" and switch to the "white list". To avoid a “black list”, three countries must be supported.
At the FATF meeting in Beijing last month, Pakistan received support for Malaysia and Turkey in addition to the current FATF chairman, China.
The FATF plenary session in October 2019 noted that Pakistan only addressed five of the 27 financing control tasks for terrorist groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Hizbul Mujahideen, who are responsible for a number of tasks Attacks in India.
The FATF urged Pakistan to quickly complete its full action plan by February 2020.
At the Beijing meeting, Pakistan presented a list of its measures to comply with FATF instructions.
Pakistan was put on the "gray list" by the FATF in June 2018 and received an action plan to complete it by October 2019, or there is a risk of being blacklisted with Iran and North Korea.
The FATF is an intergovernmental body founded in 1989 to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.
The FATF currently has 39 members, including two regional organizations – the European Commission and the Gulf Cooperation Council. India is a member of the FATF consultations and the Asia Pacific Group.
If Pakistan continues the "gray list", it will be difficult for the country to receive financial support from the IMF, the World Bank, the ADB and the European Union, which is a problem for the nation, which is in a precarious financial situation, further tightened.
