MEP Thierry Mariani said that the European Commission should justify the reason for supporting Islamabad which provides money to launderers who fund terrorists

European Parliament Member Thierry Mariani said that the European Commission should justify the reason for supporting Islamabad which provides money to launderers who fund terrorist organizations. He further asserted that Pakistan is not following United Nations Security Council's resolutions relating to terrorism. Mariani also said that Pakistan is becoming a country known for protecting the money launderers and financing the source of terrorism. 

MEP Thierry Mariani's Opinion Piece 

According to the reports by ANI, in an opinion piece in the EU Chronicle, he wrote, “The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) President Marcus Pleyer insisted at the Plenary press conference on October 23 that 'risks remain' as Pakistan fails to comply with all its terrorism financing standards. The plenary retained Pakistan on the grey-list stating that 'all-action plan deadlines have expired”. He added, “European Commission should justify how and why it is supporting Pakistan - a country which is harbouring money launderers, which fund terrorist organisations, all with the knowledge and consent of a government, itself on the money laundering and terrorism financing watch list”. 

He also mentioned Khanani, who was considered one of the world's most-wanted money launderers as he was involved in movement of money between countries like Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, the US, the UK, Canada and Australia. Mariani said that Pakistan is on the watchlist of FATF as most member countries believe that Islamabad and the Imran Khan government have not taken the required steps to stop money laundering. He wrote, “This is the same Imran Khan who recently gave a eulogy to Osama Bin Laden praising him as a martyr.

Pakistan remains on the 'grey list' despite Imran Khan's efforts to fool FATF by imposing 'strict' financial sanctions on 88 terrorist outfits and their leaders, including Jamaat ud-Dawa's (JuD) head, Hafiz Saeed, and Jaish-e-Mohammed's (JeM) Masood Azhar. The FAFT is not so easily misled - not only does it ask for the documentation but it will also carry out a site visit to check that standards and operating systems are in place. The latest Asia Pacific Group (APG) report which also reviews Pakistan's money laundering and terrorism financing practices was not very positive in this direction”. 

In a separate incident, French Member of European Parliament (MEP) Nicolas Bay has asked the European Union to stop ‘showering’ Ankara and Islamabad with subsidies and put up sanctions against them as he called Turkey and Pakistan 'countries of concern' amid rising terror attacks in Europe. Speaking to the European Commissioner Ylva Johansson, who is responsible for Home Affairs, Bay expressed his disapproval of the support that the European Commission gives to the countries of concern. As per a press statement, “During the European Parliamentary plenary of November, 11 French MEP Nicolas Bay from the Identity and Democracy Group had strong words against European aid to Pakistan and Turkey in light of threats coming from both countries. MEP Bay's comments were made in the context of a debate on the 'fight against terrorism, freedom of expression and education”.