Islamabad: Fearing about Financial Action Task Force’s grey list, Pakistan has imposed financial sanctions on 88 banned terror groups and their leaders including the most wanted Dawood Ibrahim, Hafiz Saeed, Masood Azhar and Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi.
The Paris-based FATF put Pakistan on the grey list in June 2018 and asked Islamabad to implement a plan of action by the end of 2019, but the deadline was extended later due to COVID-19 pandemic.
This also means that Pakistan who always refuted presence of Dawood Ibrahim in the country, has now accepted that he resides in Pakistan. Ibrahim, who heads a vast and multifaceted illegal business, emerged as India’s most wanted terrorist after the 1993 Mumbai bombings.
The government ordered the seizure of all movable and immovable properties of these outfits and individuals, and freezing of their bank accounts.
However, Pakistan’s ministry of foreign affairs later said that the statutory regulatory orders reflect the current status of the UN Taliban and ISIL (Da’esh) and AQ Sanctions list and are a “routine matter”. It also said the individuals concerned are not named by its national counter-terrorism authority and reports about Pakistan imposing new sanctions measures are “incorrect”.
