The head of the US State department’s South and Central Asian Bureau, Alice Wells has stressed on the need for Pakistan to prosecute the terrorists operating on its soil ahead of FATF’ crucial decision on whether to blacklist the country. Pakistan’s futile attempt to mislead the world by occasionally arresting and then letting off the terrorists flourishing on its soil lay disclosed.
Speaking about the arrest of the ‘top four leaders’ of the banned LeT/JuD, showcased by the terror state of Pakistan ahead of the Financial Action Task Force’s crucial plenary meeting scheduled to be held in Paris from October 12 to October 15, Alice Wells tweeted that Pakistan must prosecute the terrorists including LeT chief Hafiz Saeed whom the country have been safeguarding all this while.
As @ImranKhanPTI has said, #Pakistan, for its own future, must prevent militant groups from operating on its soil. AGW
— State_SCA (@State_SCA) October 12, 2019
The desperation to escape FATF blacklisting led Pakistan to once again try and fool the world with token gestures of arresting the ‘top four leaders’ of the banned LeT/JuD on charges of terrorism financing ahead of the Financial Action Task Force’s crucial plenary meeting. Pakistan had even recently got UNSC to allow monthly expense of 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed.
Read: US pulls up Pakistan, says it should show more concern for the Muslims in China than in Kashmir
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which has been keeping a close watch on the terror state of Pakistan, had recently declared that Pakistan has fared badly in the FATF-APG report card on money-laundering and terror-financing ahead of the annual meeting which is scheduled to be held in Paris between 13-18 October.
This observation might come as a major blow to the terror state which faces the threat of being placed on the FATF black-list. This fear has probably compelled Pakistan to orchestrate the arrest of these terrorists, whom it has been safeguarding for all this while.
The leaders of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) arrested on Thursday have been identified as Professor Zafar Iqbal, Yahya Aziz, Muhammad Ashraf and Abdul Salam.
This strategy adopted by the terror state of Pakistan is not new. In August 2019, Pakistan had made a similar attempt to mislead the FATF by registering fake FIRs against the terror groups that they have been safeguarding all this while.
Moreover, Pakistan has previously shown the arrest of LeT, JeM, JuD and FIF cadres in a bid to fool the FATF. However, they were not arrested under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 but under its Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Act. Which meant that the detainees could only remain a maximum of 60 days in custody.
JeM founder Masood Azhar and LeT founder Hafiz Saeed have for the most part been arrested only for breach of peace and never prosecuted under anti-terror laws.
