New Delhi: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has virtually dropped a bombshell on the Imran Khan government by openly stating that the country was on the verge of being blacklisted by the FATF because it had been forced by the military leadership to get “involved in external issues”.
Sharif, whose third term as Prime Minister extended from 2013 to 2017, had incurred the wrath of the generals as they did not want him to take action against Islamist militants who were being used by the army to carry out cross-border terror attacks in India and Afghanistan. Consequently, Sharif was hounded and had to eventually quit.
“When we pointed out that our friendly countries were warning us about our involvement in external issues which was being done at the behest of the military, we were attacked and it was turned into a scandal,” a Reuters report from Islamabad quoted Sharif as saying.
He was addressing a Pakistani opposition parties conference on Sunday via a video link from London.
“Now, Pakistan has to deal with the shame of trying to meet targets set by platforms like the FATF,” Sharif said.
He was referring to the Financial Action Task Force which is the global watchdog working to combat money laundering and terror finance.
“The military’s interference has reached a point where, from being a state within a state, it was now a state above the state. This is the root cause of all our problems,” the former PM said.
Sharif’s statement comes at a time when Pakistan is desperately trying to avoid being blacklisted by the FATF at a meeting scheduled for next month.
In the FATF meeting in February, Pakistan had gained an extra four months to comply with international anti-terrorism financing norms but was warned that if it failed to fall in line it would be blacklisted. The FATF said it was concerned that Islamabad had again failed to complete an internationally agreed action plan.
Inclusion on the FATF blacklist would put Pakistan in the same category as Iran and North Korea and mean it would not be able to get any loans from international financial institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank.
It would also face problems in financial dealings with other countries. (IANS)
