Curbs on Hafiz Saeed, Masood Azhar & Dawood by Pak Amid FATF Flak

Key figures of outfits such as JuD, JeM, Taliban, Daesh, Haqqani Group and al-Qaeda are also on the list.

88 banned terror groups and their leaders including 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed, Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar and underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, have been imposed with tough financial actions by the government of Pakistan.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

The Pakistan government has imposed tough financial curbs on 88 banned terror groups and their leaders including the 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed, Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar, and underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. All their properties will soon be seized and their banks accounts frozen, reported news agency PTI, citing a news report, on Saturday, 22 August.

According to PTI, the Pakistan government issued two notifications on 18 August, which announced that sanctions had been imposed on key figures of terror outfits.

The report also added that Pakistan has issued these sanctions in a bid to get out of the grey list of Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

WHO ELSE IS ON THE LIST?

The list of leaders and members of terrorist groups, on whom the sanctions have been imposed, has been compiled in compliance with a list recently issued by the United Nations Security Council, reported PTI, citing Pakistani daily The News.

Key figures of outfits such as Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), JeM, Taliban, Daesh, Haqqani Group and al-Qaeda, among others, are on the list.

The notification also said that leadership of the defunct TTP, and other such organisations have been banned. So have Emirates of Tanzim Qafqaz working against Russia, and Abdul Haq of Uyghurs of Islamic Freedom Movement of China.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

All states are compelled to impose UNSC sanctions, which include assets freeze, an arms embargo, and travel ban, according to PTI.

The report added that this legislation by Pakistan was part of its efforts to move from the FATF’s grey list to the white list.

SIGNIFICANCE OF FATF LISTS

According to PTI, in its final plenary meeting in June, the FATF, under the Chinese Presidency of Xiangmin Liu, decided to keep Pakistan in its ‘grey list’ citing continued flow of money to terror groups.

However, if Pakistan continues to remain on the ‘grey list’ it will be hard for the country to receive financial aid from the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank.

Besides, if the country fails to abide by the FATF directive by October, it can even be placed in the ‘Black List’, alongside North Korea and Iran, reported PTI.

(With inputs from PTI)