Fearing FATF, Pakistan mulling permanent ban on Hafiz Saeed's Jamaat-ud Dawa

Pakistan is mulling to “permanently” ban several terrorist organisations and individuals, including 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed’s Jamaatud Dawa.

“Pakistan government is working on a draft bill to replace the presidential ordinance that banned Jamaatud Dawa and other terror organisations and individuals,” according to a report published in Pakistani daily the Dawn.

The proposed draft bill to amend the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), 1997 is likely to be tabled on April 9, the report stated.

The bill is seen as a damage control move by Pakistan after the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) approved a proposal to put the country on the international watchdog’s money-laundering and terror-financing grey list in February.

The Pakistani government is also taking military establishment in confidence before moving the bill in its National Assembly.

Earlier in February, days before FATF plenary meeting in Paris, Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain had secretly promulgated an ordinance seeking to amend the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) to ban the United Nations proscribed terrorist groups.

Also Read | Stop harassing Hafiz Saeed, let him perform ‘social welfare activities’: Pakistan court to government

The ordinance amended ATA’s Section 11-B that sets out parameters for prescription of groups and Section 11-EE that describes the grounds for the listing of individuals.

Pakistan is also preparing a strong database of terrorists and terrorist organisations operating from the country’s soil. The data will be provided to the financial institutions of the country to check the money laundering and terror financing.

Pakistan was given a three-month time by FATF to take substantial actions against money laundering and terror financing.

FATF maintains a grey and blacklist that identifies countries supporting money laundering and terror financing. Pakistan had been on the grey list of FATF for three years from 2012 to 2015.