ISLAMABAD – To implement the National Action Plan (NAP) in letter and spirit, the government has decided to take stern action against all the militant outfits operating in the country.
Information Minister, Fawad Chaudhry confirmed in a TV talk show that the government had decided to launch a crackdown against such groups, however, he fell short of providing any timeline in this regard.
The decision comes days after National Security Committee (NSC) met and ‘decided to accelerate action against proscribed organisations’ besides re-imposition of a ban on Jama’at-ud-Da’wah and Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation.
A source close to the developments revealed that the action was not in response to the Pulwama attack but was in national interest.
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/pakistan/pakistan-re-imposes-ban-on-hafiz-saeeds-jud-fif/
“We are taking action in our national interest. We have to correct the course. We cannot leave this mess for our next generation,” the source told Dawn News.
“It was decided in NAP in 2014 that there would action against proscribed groups. That required strategic shift and such changes take time,” he stressed.
The decision of a crackdown against militant outfits comes days after the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) issued statements regarding the actions taken by Pakistan to move out of its Grey list, asking it do mre.
“Since June 2018, when Pakistan made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and APG to strengthen its AML/CFT [anti money laundering/combating financing of terrorism] regime and to address its strategic counter-terrorist financing-related deficiencies, Pakistan has taken steps towards improving its AML/CFT regime, including by operationalising the integrated database for its currency declaration regime,” the FATF acknowledged last month.
Pakistan was placed on the Grey List with a set of guidelines to follow in order to be de-listed. If Pakistan fails to implement the guidelines, it would be at risk of being blacklisted – a list containing North Korea and Iran.
Assets of Banned Outfits Seized
Pakistan’s foreign office announced on Monday that the federal government issued an order to streamline the process for implementation of sanctions against individuals and entities designated by the United Nations Security Council.
FO Spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal said the government has taken over the control of all banned outfits operating in the country.
“[From now onwards], all kinds of assets and properties of all [banned] organisations will be in the government’s control,” the spokesperson told Dawn News.
He added that the government will now also seize the charity wings and ambulances of such banned outfits.
A key measure of the UNSC sanctions regime against suspected terrorist individuals or entities is the assets freeze action under states are required to freeze or seize the assets of designated entities and individuals as soon as they are designated by the relevant UNSC Sanctions Committee, the FO said.
