ISLAMABAD – With longtime ally China providing diplomaticcover, Pakistan is confident it can avert being blacklisted by a globalwatchdog group over “terrorism” financing on Friday.
But the country will not be completely off the hook until Islamabad provesit is genuinely severing ties with various groups of fighters, sayofficials and analysts.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) – the Paris-based intergovernmentalorganisation that combats money laundering and “terrorism” financing – lastyear placed Pakistan on a grey list of countries with inadequate controls.
During its five-day meeting, FATF will decide on Friday whether to retainthat designation, or blacklist Pakistan alongside Iran and North Korea.
If blacklisted, Islamabad faces financial consequences and economicsetbacks at a time when its economy is facing a balance of payments crisis.
“The main challenge for Pakistan is to convince the FATF that it is takingcomplete and irreversible steps against terrorist financing,” said MichaelKugelman, the deputy director of the Asia Program at the Wilson Centerthink-tank.
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Pakistan, which blames archrival India for lobbying to blacklist it, isrelying for support on friendly countries like China, as wellas Turkey and Malaysia.
Three votes are mandatory for any country to escape the blacklisting, andChina is presiding over the ongoing FATF plenary in Francelink.
Two top government officials and a security source told the Reuters newsagency that in a recent visit to Beijing, Pakistan’s civil and militaryleadership secured a guarantee from Chinese leaders that Pakistan would notbe placed on the blacklist.
