Pakistan's Crackdown On Militants Like Masood Azhar, Hafiz Saeed A Waff To Get Out Of FATF Grey List?

In the past few weeks, the anti-terrorism department has arrested and jailed several UN Designated terrorists including Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, and its founder Hafiz Saeed.

(File Photos/ AFP)

New Delhi: The anti-terrorism court of Pakistan has asked the Punjab province police of Pakistan, to arrest Masood Azhar, a United Designated terrorist and chief of banned Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), by January 18 in connection with a terror-financing case. The arrest warrant was issued by ATC Gujranwala against the JeM chief in the terror-financing case instituted by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in the previous hearing on Thursday. Azhar is facing charges of terror financing and selling jihadi literature. According to news agency PTI, the special court has also stated that if the CTD fails to arrest Masood Azhar by January 18, the court may begin proceedings to declare him a proclaimed offender. Is The Arrest Warrant Of JeM Chief Waff To Get Out Of FATF Grey List? In the past few weeks, the anti-terrorism department has arrested and jailed several UN Designated terrorists including Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, and its founder Hafiz Saeed. The crackdown on Azhar, who is one of the main accused in the Pulwama Terror attack, comes ahead of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) meet, which is scheduled in February, that added Pakistan to its Grey List in 2018, for its role in support to terrorism. While an arrest warrant is issued for fugitive Azhar, who was released by India in exchange for passengers of the hijacked Indian Airlines plane IC-814 in 1999, Lakhvi and Saeed have been sentenced to rigorous imprisonment of more than 15 years. What Is FATF? FATF is an intergovernmental organization founded in 1989 on the initiative of the G7 to develop policies to combat money laundering. In 2001, its mandate was expanded to include terrorism financing. The Paris-based global terror financing watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is instrumental in pushing Pakistan to take measures against terrorists roaming freely in Pakistan and using its territory to carry out attacks in India and elsewhere. The FATF placed Pakistan on the Grey List in June 2018 and asked Islamabad to implement a plan of action to curb money laundering and terror financing by the end of 2019 but the deadline was extended later on due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The FATF seeks freezing of funds, denial of weapons access, and travel ban as part of its action plan to curb terrorism. India Calls The Move As "Farcical Actions" Reacting to the move, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said the timing clearly suggests the intention of conveying a sense of compliance ahead of the APG (Asia-Pacific Group) meet and the next FATF plenary meet in February 2021. "It has become routine for Pakistan to come up with such farcical actions prior to important meetings. "UN proscribed entities and designated terrorists act as proxies for Pakistani establishment to fulfill its anti-India agenda. It is for the international community to hold Pakistan to account and ensure that it takes credible action against terror groups, terror infrastructure, and individual terrorists," Srivastava added.