Pakistan gets 3-month reprieve from terror financing watchlist: Asif

Islamabad Feb 21 (IANS) Pakistan has won a last-minute reprieve at the Financial Action Task Forces meeting in Paris after member states failed to reach a consensus on a US-led motion to place Pakistan on a watchlist of countries that finance terrorism Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif has said.

However there was no official word from the organisation regarding the "reprieve".

Asif in a midnight tweet thanked "friends" who helped Pakistan avoid a major international embarrassment.

"Our efforts paid FATF Paris 20 Feb meeting conclusion on the US-led motion to put Pakistan on watch list… No consensus for nominating Pakistan proposing three months pause and asking APG (Asia Pacific Group) for another report to be concluded in June " Asif who is currently in Moscow tweeted on Tuesday.

"Grateful to friends who helped " he added.

China Turkey and Russia opposed the motion which was jointly moved by the US and the UK against Pakistan the Express Tribune reported. The reports said that Germany and France backed the US motion.

The FATF is holding six-day-long meetings to discuss issues "to protect the integrity of the global financial system and contribute to safety and security".

The meetings involve over 700 delegates from the 203 jurisdictions of the FATF Global Network as well as the UN IMF World Bank and other partners.

The plenary meetings will take place from February 21 to 23 and will focus on counter-terrorism financing and proliferation financing.

--IANS
soni/bg