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Tuesday March 19, 2024

Any anti-Pak decision by FATF to harm war on terror: Ahsan

By Muhammad Anis
February 20, 2018

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal on Monday maintained any anti-Pakistan decision taken by the Finance Action Task Force (FATF) would have negative impacts on country’s war against terrorism and extremism.

“Any negative decision taken by FATF will indirectly help the terrorist and extremist elements as it will curtail our budget in war against terror,” said the interior minister while responding a point of order raised by the PTI member Dr Shireen Mazari. He made it clear that it was not failure of Pakistan’s foreign policy but actually some other factors were behind this approach at FATF. However, he added, Pakistan’s friends were there to play their role and that there was still time as the FATF session would end on February 23.

He said that concrete steps were being taken under National Action Plan (NAP) to get rid of the menace of terrorism to secure peaceful future for country’s next generations.

He said that a joint resolution should be passed from the Parliament to tell the members of FATF including United Kingdom and United States of America that whole Pakistani nation was united against terrorism and that no external pressure will be accepted by this nation. He reiterated Pakistan’s stance it would not allow anyone to use its soil for any activity against any other country or within the country.

He said that the government of Pakistan had already taken several steps to control terrorism and in this regard Ulema’s role was very important as around 2,000 Ulema from different schools of thought had issued a decree against suicidal attack and declared it as illegal.

Ahsan Iqbal said that the FATF had put Pakistan on white-list from grey-list in 2015 due to its efforts against terrorism.

Dr Shireen Mazari wanted the government to give a statement on floor of the House about what was being done by the FATF. She said the opposition had raised the issue earlier also but no response came from the government.

Meanwhile, speaking on a point of order, Mahmood Khan Achakzai of Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party said that countries intelligence agencies acted behind toppling the Balochistan government. He regretted that the similar game was being played for the Senate elections.

He called upon the Chief Justice of Pakistan and Chief of the Army Staff to take notice of the situation otherwise they would be responsible for any damage if suffered by the federation.

He regretted that some people of one province who are unknown in politics were being awarded tickets for the Senate elections from the other province.

PPI adds: Ahsan Iqbal has said that it will be counterproductive for the war against terror to put Pakistan’s name on the watch list of the countries funding terrorism.

While responding to questions by newsmen here on Monday he said the move to put Pakistan on the watch list would hurt its capability to fight terrorism and questioned whose interest would be served by doing so. He said Pakistan was diplomatically engaging different countries of the world to apprise them of the measures taken by the country in the war against terror.

He expressed the confidence that the international community would recognise sacrifices of Pakistan in the war against terror and will not take measures that would hamper its anti-terror campaign.

To another question he condemned continued unprovoked firing by India on the Line of Control (LoC) and said that New Delhi was resorting to the tactics in a bid to divert attention from its atrocities against people in Occupied Kashmir.

Replying to another question Ahsan Iqbal said there was a procedure for putting names on the Exit Control List (ECL).

Earlier, Ahsan Iqbal says only democracy can ensure sustainable socio-economic development. He was speaking at the launching ceremony of the report Inclusive and Sustainable Development in Islamabad on Monday. He said it was because of democracy that the country was today having historic projects like China Pakistan Economic Corridor CPEC.