The Financial Action Task Force on Wednesday dismissed Pakistan’s claim that it had got a three-month reprieve over a United States-led motion to put the country on a terrorist financing watchlist. The intergovernmental body, which sets standards for fighting illicit finance globally, said it is yet to make a decision on the motion, the Hindustan Times reported.
“The Financial Action Task Force plenary started today [Wednesday],” spokesperson Alexandra Wijmenga-Daniel told the newspaper. “The outcomes will be published on Friday.”
Pakistan Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif (pictured above) said on Tuesday that Islamabad had been given a three-month reprieve as the global watchdog had not reached a consensus on the motion.
US State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert, however, had denied any such development, and said the global watchdog had yet to announce its decision on the motion.
The member states of the Financial Action Task Force are meeting this week in Paris, and will decide on the US motion, backed by United Kingdom, France and Germany. The US had proposed to place Pakistan on the “grey list” of countries that are not doing enough to comply with terrorist-funding regulations.
Days before the Financial Action Task Force’s plenary meeting, Pakistan had promulgated an ordinance to ban outfits that the United Nations has designated as terrorist organisations. It was feared that the task force, under pressure from the United States and India, would place Pakistan on its grey list.
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