Pakistan works to stay off list of terror-friendly nations
Pakistan has frozen the accounts of 5,000 suspected terrorists, taking about $3 million out of their pockets, but Islamabad could still come under scrutiny at a crucial June meeting of an international watchdog that tracks terror financing.
Analysts and government officials say political foot-dragging and sympathetic supporters throughout Pakistan makes it difficult to cut off the money supply to banned terrorist groups. Next month in Spain, the Financial Action Task Force will update its assessment of "high-risk and non-cooperative jurisdictions," Alexandra Wijmenga-Daniel of the task force's communications department said in an email. She did not offer any specifics.
The 35-nation intergovernmental organization was formed in 1989 to combat money laundering. After 9/11, it also took on the role of fighting the financing of terrorism. Getting on the task force's "black list" could hurt a country's ability to borrow, if its banking system is considered a money laundering haven.
