Amid looming threat of being placed on Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) "blacklist", a parliamentary panel on Wednesday finalized draft of Anti-Terrorism (Amendment), Bill, 2018 to address the concerns of international community with regard to terror financing in the country. National Assembly Standing Committee on Interior which met here with MNA Rana Shamim Ahmed Khan in the chair finalized the draft bill which would be presented in National Assembly for passage in the upcoming session.
The Bill has already been laid before the Senate. Talking to Business Recorder, Syed Iftikhar-ul-Hassan, one of the movers of the bill, said that the bill is an important bill given the international community's concerns, and it would be passed from the present assembly before the end of the incumbent government's term.
"This would be an important move to thwart the threat of placing Pakistan on the FATF's blacklist. There is no danger any more as we have done what the international community wanted us to do in terms of tightening the noose around the terrorists," he maintained.
He said the government has been working on a draft bill to amend the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) as part of its damage-control campaign after FATF placed Pakistan on its grey list on the application jointly moved by the US, the UK and Germany in February this year.
Soon after being placed on the grey list by the FATF the government began working on the bill to be presented in the National Assembly to replace a presidential ordinance promulgated on February 9, which amends the law and enables the government to proscribe those entities that are proscribed by the UN Security Council.
Finance Ministry sources said that Adviser on Finance Miftah Ismail who is leading Pakistan delegation in the FATF, has done all the necessary homework, particularly with respect to drafting the appropriate legislation.
An official of the Ministry of Finance told Business Recorder on condition of anonymity that the caretaker government will have no issues in pursuing Pakistan's case in FATF, adding the outgoing government has already addressed the majority of the concerns of the international community and the caretaker government has to simply present Pakistan's prepared case.
"Ministry of Finance together with Ministry of Interior are working on the issue and whoever is appointed as the Finance Minister in the caretaker setup will plead the case in the FATF," the official added.
Soon after FATF recommended placing Pakistan on the grey list, President Mamnoon Hussain promulgated the ordinance amending the ATA to include entities listed by the UNSC as proscribed groups.
Through the ordinance, amendments were made to ATA's Section 11-B that sets out parameters for proscription of groups and Section 11-EE that describes the grounds for listing of individuals.
In both sections, Sub-Section 'aa' was added which stipulates that organizations and individuals "listed under the United Nations (Security Council) Act, 1948 (XIV of 1948), will be included in the First Schedule (for organizations) and Fourth Schedule (for individuals), respectively, on an ex parte basis."
Under Section 11-EE, the requirements are: "(a) concerned in terrorism; (b) an activist, office-bearer or an associate of an organization kept under observation under section 11D or proscribed under section 11B; and (c) in any way concerned or suspected to be concerned with such organization or affiliated with any group or organization suspected to be involved in terrorism or sectarianism or acting on behalf of, or at the direction of, any person or organization proscribed under this Act."