News
Saturday, August 20, 2011
US acknowledges Pak anti-terror efforts* State Department report appreciates enactment of law to strengthen financial regulations
* Notes lack of counterterrorism cooperation between Pakistan, India in 2010
WASHINGTON: Pakistan continued its cooperation at regional and international levels to curb terrorism coupled with steps to contain radicalisation domestically even as it continued to suffer from high levels of terror attacks, a new US report says.
The annual assessment, released by State Department’s Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism for the year 2010, also claimed that terrorist organisations based in the Tribal Areas, launched attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
“Pakistan’s civilian government and military cooperated and collaborated with US efforts to identify and counter terrorist activity in Pakistan, and the United States continued to engage Pakistan to ensure it had the will and capacity to confront all extremist elements within its borders,” said the report. Entitled “Country Reports on Terrorism,” the 2010 review provided to Congress, says the “coordination, sophistication, and frequency of suicide and other bombings continued unabated in 2010. Pakistan experienced hundreds of bomb blasts, suicide attacks, and sectarian violence, resulting in more than 2,000 dead and scores more injured.”
The review also lists some major terrorist attacks the country suffered last year in various parts at the hands of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and other militant and sectarian outfits.
The report appreciates the counterterror steps the Pakistan government took during the year but also points out the areas where improvement is needed to reinforce anti-terror efforts.
Several attacks saw continuation of the trend of employing suicide bombers and remotely detonated explosives to perpetrate violence. Attacks using similar methods were also carried out against government and police facilities. Pakistan, the report notes, continued to process travelers on entry and departure at 13 international airports, five land border sites, four seaports, and two train stations with the Personal Identification Secure Comparison and Evaluation System (PISCES).
Pakistan strengthened its counterterrorist finance regime and committed to making additional improvements. “The informal financial sector continued to play a significant role in Pakistan’s legal and illicit economies, but the government has taken substantial steps to curb the role of informal financial service providers in servicing remittances.”
Through the Pakistan Remittance Initiative, the government has steadily increased the volume of remittances coming through authorised channels during the past three years, improved Pakistan’s balance of payments, and enhanced financial transparency.
The government has also prosecuted unregistered, illegal money remitters. During the past year, Pakistan took a substantial step toward strengthening its anti-money laundering/countering terrorist finance (AML/CTF) regime. In March, the parliament passed the Anti-Money Laundering Act, which replaced a temporary ordinance and solidified the Financial Monitoring Unit’s standing as a national centre for the collection and dissemination of suspicious transaction reports related to money laundering and terrorist financing.
Pakistan also strengthened financial regulations, in particular the requirements to conduct due diligence and maintain internal controls. However, the report, also noted the need for stricter enforcement of some aspects. Documenting Pakistani actions, the review says Pakistan arrested several alleged perpetrators but few convictions resulted.
The Pakistani military continued to conduct operations in areas with known terrorist activity but was unable to expand its operations to all areas of concern. In the regional and international perspective, Pakistan continued to cooperate at various counterterrorism forums. However, Pak-India counterterrorism cooperation was lacking in 2010, says the report.
“Significant cooperation was documented during the latter part of 2010 in support for Project Global Shield, a World Customs Organisation (WCO) Counter Improvised Explosive Device (IED) Project seeking to identify the global movement of precursor chemicals (some dual use) that are used in the manufacture of IEDs. A multi-country conference held at the WCO Headquarters in Brussels in October, launched this project, which commenced on November 1.
As a follow up to the launch of Project Global Shield, the Pakistan Federal Board of Revenue (Customs) and UN Office of Drugs and Crime organised a training conference in Karachi, Pakistan in December, which provided training to customs officers and anti-narcotics officers in the identification and safe handling of precursor chemicals.
In January, the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran agreed on a roadmap to confront jointly the challenges of violent extremism and terrorism facing the region by signing the Islamabad Declaration, which was described as a guide to stability, security, and development in the region through mutual cooperation.
The Pakistani foreign minister said the three sides agreed to confront the common challenges of illicit weapons and drug money through a comprehensive approach. The three nations also agreed to look into the possibilities of developing regional approaches to these challenges.
On steps to countering radicalisation, the report notes that the Pakistan government realises that counter-radicalisation through non-military means is a critical component to long-term success against violent extremism, and has initiated certain counter-radicalisation efforts in 2010. app
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk