ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi warned the United States that the latter’s move to block financial aid to Pakistan “actually only serve(s) to degrade our capability to fight the war against terror”.
The incumbent leadership of Pakistan will, however, push ahead with plans to seize control of charities run by Hafiz Saeed — an extremist designated a terrorist by Washington and warned the US not to weaken Islamabad, the Premier added.
“Yes, the government will take over the charities, which are sanctioned and not allowed to operate,” Abbasi, 59, told in an interview at the prime minister’s chamber in Islamabad.
The prime minister said any sanctions against the state would be counter-productive to the country’s own battle against militants, which he called “the largest war on terror in the world”.
He added that the US will have to fight terrorists on its own.
Abbasi continued that the nation had made progress in curbing terrorist financing after meetings with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) — an international body that warned Islamabad could be put on a watchlist for not doing enough to stop the practice.
“We’ve had several meetings on that, and from what I’ve seen a large part of those actions have been taken,” Abbasi said.
A UN Security Council (UNSC) team is due to visit Pakistan this month to review progress against UN-designated “terrorist” groups, which includes LeT and others, such as the Afghan Taliban-allied Haqqani network.
There are concerns in Pakistan that the country may face financial sanctions over accusations of selective action against extremist groups and financing.
Under pressure from the US and international institutions to crack down on terrorist financing, Pakistan last month drew up secret plans for a “takeover” of charities linked to extremist leader Saeed who India and Washington both blame for the 2008 attacks in Mumbai that killed 166 people.
The US has labelled these charities as “terrorist fronts” for Saeed’s group that was founded in 1987.
Saeed has repeatedly denied involvement in the Mumbai attacks and says the charitable organisations he founded and controls have no ties with militants.
But both he and the organisations have been sanctioned by the UN and his freedom in Pakistan has been a thorn in Islamabad’s relations with India and the US.
Answering specific questions about the proposed takeover, Abbasi said the civilian government had the backing of the powerful military.
“Everybody is on board, everybody is on the same page, everybody is committed to [the] implementation of UN sanctions,” he said, declining to set a deadline.
Both extremist organisations have previously said they would take legal action if the government tried to take them over. Saeed could not be reached for comment.=DNA
