Over the last several decades, many Wahhabi organisations developed, flourished and survived in India. Most escaped the reach of our agencies and the strategic community, either because of lack of sufficient knowledge or lack of adequate political will to tackle them. The most prominent feature of such organisations is the legal umbrella under which they operate. They often work under the garb of rights ad charity groups, NGOs and religious institutions. However, internally they work to radicalise the demography selected by them, which is across faiths. This leads to polari sation, fuels hatred and causes germination of fundamentalist terrorist ideologies. A sophisticated network of organisations managed to thrive despite the heavy machinery of the Indian state.

Case of So-called Charities

The role of external support to such organisations is the most potent driving factor in the spread of radical ideologies in India. For instance, the import of Saudi endorsed hard-line Wahhabi ideology in the 1980s sprouted the seed of extremism in the Kashmir Valley. In the most recent example, the Middle East Forum, a Philadelphia-based organisation, came across a massive cache of documents associated with Qatar-based Sheikh Eid Bin Mohammad Al Thani Charitable Association, also referred to as Eid Charity. It is claimed that Eid Charity, perhaps out of ignorance of the nature of the donees, funnelled millions of dollars since 2008-09 into India, funding organisations associated with the Wahhabi school of thought that is in fact antithetical to Islam. Eid Charity came under global scrutiny in 2013 when one of its founders, Abd Al-Rahman al-Nu’aymi, was named as Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGTs) by the US Department of Treasury. He was sanctioned for providing financial and material support to Al Qaeda and its affiliates in Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Somalia. The association also works with other charity groups in Qatar, such as Qatar Charity and Foundation Sheikh Thani Ibn Abdullah for Humanitarian Services (RAF). Donations made by these are under investigation in the US and elsewhere. Qatar needs to avoid falling into the FATF “Grey List” in the manner that its close allies Pakistan and Turkey have.

Investigation of documents revealed over 1,200 transactions made to India either directly under the name of Eid Charity or through individualistic contributions. A total of QR 28.492855 million (USD 7.82 million approx.) were transferred to eight organisations in India. The money was distributed for projects ranging from direct financial support within the Muslim community to other religious and community action programs such as building/supporting mosques and building handpumps.

The Kerala-based Salafi Philanthropic Society, registered as Salafi Charitable Trust Narikkuni, received the largest cache of funds, involving around USD 4.9 million between 2008-17. This charity group is run by another Qatar-based charity group mentioned earlier, RAF. The RAF is run by a royal family member of Qatar and was black-listed for terror financing by Arab nations in 2017. The Foundation has serious charges levied against it, including funding Al Qaeda affiliated groups Al Nusra in Syria and arming Muslim-Brotherhood-backed fighters in Sudan. It denies such charges.

A large part of the money received by Salafi Charitable Trust was meant to be directed towards individual financial assistance within the poor Muslim population. Money was also given for projects such as countrywide distribution/promotions of Hijab. Dr Hussain Madavoor runs the trust as its chairman. He is one of Kerala’s most prominent religious figures and vice president of one of Kerala’s largest faith-based organisations, Kerala Nadvathul Mujahideen (KNM), which has tried to project itself as a progressive group over the years.

In a video message posted on Facebook in 2018, Dr Madavoor supported Peace Education Foundation and its founder and managing director, M.M. Akbar. Peace Education Foundation has been on the radar of security agencies since 2016 when it came to public notice that several ISIS recruits from Kerala had an association with the foundation. Akbar is known for his controversial speeches and is often called “Zakir Naik of Kerala”, another Islamic preacher absconding from India on terrorism and money laundering charges. Akbar was arrested in 2017 while trying to fly to Qatar on the charges of radicalising school children through alleged radical content in Peace-funded schools.

In an audio message released by ISIS-KP, Abdul Rashid Abdullah, the mastermind behind the ISIS module in Kerala and former employee at Peace Foundation, claimed that there are ISIS supporters among the teachers and parents of Peace schools. He also alleged that during a public interview, the group tried to conceal the identity of at least two former employees of Peace Foundation who travelled to Afghanistan to join ISIS-KP.

During our investigation, it was found that Eid Charity funded an organisation named Peace Education Centre. It is hard to ascertain the identity of this organisation, which almost received all the funds in the name of financial support to an orphanage. However, the only possible link could be with the Peace Education Foundation mentioned above, which runs several educational and charitable institutions for orphans. If Peace Education Foundation received money from Eid Charity, it would be the most direct evidence of Eid Charity funding organisations in India that are alleged to be involved in radicalisation activities.

Eid Charity’s second-largest reserve of funds to India is transferred in the name of Symposium Educational Charitable Society. This organisation received around USD 2.01 million, yet our investigation disclosed no traces of any organisation with such a name in the public domain. Following the transactions, it came into notice that the money was transferred for projects mainly in the Siddharthnagar district of the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. A large sum of this money was given to Al-Farooq Group based in the Itwa area of the district. This group is directly funded by Eid Charity and is known for its dismissive stand against Sufi Islam, which is widely practised in India. The Itwa area also harbours other organisations with foreign backing, propagating fundamentalist Wahhabi interpretations that are intolerant towards non-Wahhabi Muslim sects.

Another organisation named Al Safa Educational, Industrial and Islamic Charitable Society received funds from Eid Charity. Another controversial preacher runs it from Kerala, Maulana Sheikh Meraj Rabbani, who was also arrested in 2010 over hate speech against other Muslim sects, including Barelvis and Sufis. Rabbani was also amongst several radical preachers in Kerala whose speeches allegedly aided the radicalisation of ISIS recruits. Rabbani is also involved in a high-profile Heera Gold fraud case, where he is alleged to have urged people to invest in a Ponzi scheme.

Most interestingly, a large amount of Eid Charity money is transferred to Al Safa in the name of supporting the operation of the Salafi Charitable Trust mentioned above. It shows that money from Qatar is circulated within these Salafist organisations. Many groups may only exist to work as proxy organisations to escape the scrutiny of law enforcement agencies and tax regulatory bodies. This could also be true since other recipients in the Eid Charity list, such as Al-Habib Educational and Charitable Foundation and Relevance Charitable Foundation, are publicly ghost, and our investigation couldn’t find any traces of their existence. These groups may be shell organisations, the most common practice amongst institutions funding global extremism and radicalisation.

Sowing Seeds of Extremism

The whole investigation shows that this funding mechanism has evolved and acquired a sophisticated form over the last several years. The non-uniformity of transactional patterns makes it almost impossible to ascertain the actual purpose for these funds. The money comes under small heads for small-scale undertakings, which are extremely hard to trace and makes it almost impossible to link this money with any nefarious anti-national activity. Most of these organisations have almost no online and popular media presence. Our investigation also couldn’t find any public records of using these funds or any social media promotion of any of the projects, a standard practice of other mainstream charity groups.

Another major cause of concern is the financial support for certain organisations in Kerala. Over the past years, this southern state of India has become the hub of radicalisation and recruitment ground for several transnational extremist groups. Some organisations in Kerala have constantly been accused of supporting violent extremism, and several ISIS recruits from the state have been associated and radicalised through them. Banned Kerala-based Islamist terror groups such as the Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and groups like Popular Front of India (PFI) have used hardcore teachings to radicalise youth and recruitment. The fact that raises alarm is that these transactions also match the period when radicalisation and extremist trends in Kerala acquired a steeper trajectory. India has a rich history of progressive Islamic practices for centuries, and an external targeted design promoting extremism could disrupt the social fabric and become problematic for India’s national integrity. The recent decision by Government of India to tighten the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) is a welcome step in this direction. However, much more comprehensive tracking of suspect organisations is needed at the grass-roots level. Indian security and strategic community need to build a holistic approach to eradicate such networks, including through extensive involvement of civil society. Authorities in Qatar need to be made aware that without their knowledge or involvement, the kingdom may follow Turkey and Pakistan on the FATF grey list, given the extensive international investigation into the doings of several of its citizens.

The post Qatar risks joining Turkey and Pakistan on FATF grey list appeared first on IMR.

The Pakistani Government is racing to approve multiple bills to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing—and fulfill a 27-point plan of the global watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF). With 13 remaining conditions and an eye on the mid-October deadline, Pakistan hopes to avoid a demotion from the FATF’s grey list to the black list, joining countries such as Iran and North Korea.

Over the last two years, Pakistan has made progress by fulfilling fourteen of the criteria required by the FATF, such as developing an integrated database at airports for enhanced coordination across financial, administrative, and law enforcement agencies, and establishing successful outreach and regulatory safeguards aimed at countering terrorist financing within the country’s financial sector.

In recent months, Pakistan has taken some major steps under the plan, by which the country will allow no foreign currency transactions without a national tax number and ban currency changes of up to $500 in the open currency market without the sides submitting a copy of their identification documents.

Anti-Money Laundering Bill

Pakistan’s parliament, on 16 September, passed an anti-money laundering legislation, which was a key demand from the FATF.

According to the Anti-Terrorism Act (Amendment) Bill, 2020, the investigating officer, with the permission of the court, can conduct covert operations to detect terrorism funding, track communications and computer system by applying latest technologies in 60 days.

ALSO READ: Pakistan Minister admits Islamabad’s role in Pulwama terror attack

In addition to the money laundering bill, Pakistan has also proscribed several militant groups and seized their assets, including Jamaat ud Dawah and Jaish-e-Mohammad – the groups blamed for several terrorist attacks such as the 2009 deadly Mumbai attacks killing over 150 people.

Earlier in 2020, an anti-terrorism court sentenced Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, the chief of the Jamaat ud Dawah, to 11 years in jail in two terror-financing cases – a development widely seen as an attempt to woo FATF members.

Assets of Banned Organisations Frozen

Pakistan’s provincial home departments have frozen 964 properties of proscribed outfits Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), under the United Nations Security Council (Freezing and Seizure) Order, 2019 issued by the foreign affairs ministry.

A total of 611 properties of JuD were frozen in Punjab, followed by 108 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 80 in Sindh, 61 in ‘Azad’ Jammu & Kashmir, 30 in Balochistan and 17 in Islamabad Capital Territory.

Similarly, eight properties of JeM were frozen in Punjab, 29 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 12 in ‘Azad’ Jammu & Kashmir, four in Islamabad Capital Territory, three in Sindh and one in Balochistan.

The frozen properties of the JuD include 76 schools, four colleges, 330 mosques and seminaries, 186 dispensaries, 15 hospitals, 262 ambulances, a funeral bus, three disaster management offices, 10 boats, 17 buildings, a plot, an agricultural land and two motorcycles.

The properties of the JeM frozen by the government include 53 mosques and seminaries, two dispensaries and two ambulances.

About the FATF

The FATF, an inter-governmental body, was established in 1989 on the initiative of G7—a coalition of the world’s most developed economies – to develop policies to combat money laundering. Currently, it has 39 members. The FATF plenary that meets thrice a year, can monitor money laundering and terror financing anywhere in the world involving any country and make recommendations.

According to the FATF, it monitors the progress in implementing necessary measures, reviews money laundering and terrorist financing techniques and countermeasures and promotes the adoption and implementation of appropriate measures globally. In collaboration with other international stakeholders, the FATF works to identify national-level vulnerabilities with the aim of protecting the international financial system from misuse.

ALSO READ: Pakistan Going in Reverse Direction

In the FATF back-listing is referred to as “Call for action” which is a shorthand for the Task Force’s description of “Non-Cooperative Countries or Territories. “(NCCT). While the “grey list” is formally called the “other monitored-jurisdictions.” Pakistan has been in this list for over seven years, in two phases. It was put on the FATF grey list from 2012 to 2015 and then again from 2018 up till now. The blacklist makes it very difficult for a country to get international aid and funding that Pakistan desperately needs. And though the list gets updated regularly, its two virtually permanent members are Iran and North Korea.

Challenges Ahead

The FATF found that Pakistan lacks the necessary mechanisms to ensure that taxpayer money is not going to terrorist organizations, and that Islamabad was unable to monitor cash flow to these groups. 

Pakistan’s status on the FATF grey list inevitably impacts the country’s ability to attract foreign investors. This is incredibly important in the current economic climate of the pandemic where there are serious barriers to economic growth globally. Moreover, Pakistan’s grey list status could impact imports, exports, remittances, and its ability to borrow money from international lenders, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in the near future.

Way Forward

Pakistan has since twice escaped being placed on the watchdog’s financial crime blacklist with the support of Turkey, China, and Malaysia. According to the FATF charter, a country must have the support of at least three member states to avoid blacklisting.

To avoid being blacklisted by the FATF, Pakistan will have to demonstrate the effectiveness of sanctions including remedial actions to curb terrorist financing in the country; it will have to ensure improved effectiveness for terror financing of financial institutions with particular to banned outfits.

Pakistan Admits to Dawood’s Presence

For the first time Pakistan has admitted that India’s most wanted terrorist Dawood Ibrahim, is residing in Pakistan. The admission came in a list of 88 banned terror groups disclosed as part of its efforts to wriggle out of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) financial sanctions. The Pakistan government has imposed tough financial curbs on 88 banned terror groups and their leaders including the 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed, Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar and underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.

The Pakistani government issued two notifications on August 18 announcing sanctions on key figures of terror outfit. Ibrahim is among the 88 terrorists listed in a Statutory Regulatory Order by Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign affairs. Dawood’s details are provided under serial no. QDi.135, as in the UNSC list of sanctions, and gives out all his details including his passport numbers, and address in Clifton, Karachi.

The notifications imposed sweeping sanctions, including an assets freeze, arms embargo, and travel ban on the on key figures of terror outfits such as the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), JeM, Taliban, Daesh, Haqqani Group, al-Qaeda, and others as part of Pakistan’s efforts to avoid being blacklisted by the FATF.

On August 23, the Pakistan Foreign Ministry issued a statement expressly stating that the SROs (Statutory Regulatory Orders) issued reflect the information contained in the list entry of UN designated individuals/entities. It said the reports in certain sections of the media about Pakistan imposing new sanctions measures, through these SROs, were not factual.

Pulwama Attack Perpetrators Charged

On 25 August 2020, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed a 5,000-page charge-sheet in a special NIA Court in Jammu, naming Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar and his brother Rauf Asghar as the masterminds behind the terror attack of 14 February 2019.

On 14 February 2019, a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy came under attack by a suicide bomber, employed by Pakistan-based Jaish. Terrorist Abdul Ahmad Dar rammed the convoy on Srinagar highway triggering an explosion and leaving 40 soldiers dead. 

The 13,500-page long charge-sheet identifies 19 people for carrying out the attack at Pakistan’s behest. Six of the 19 have been eliminated, seven have been arrested. At large are the three brothers across the border and three local terrorists. The charge-sheet is replete with evidence (phone calls, recordings, WhatsApp chats and photos) to incriminate the accused in the attack.

The Charge-sheet details how Pulwama attack was a result of a well-planned criminal conspiracy hatched by Pakistan-based leadership of terrorist organization Jaish-e-Mohammad.

The NIA charge-sheet reportedly names 20 accused, including some key Jaish-e-Mohammad conspirators:

•             Adil Ahmed Dar. the suicide bomber who rammed the CRPF convoy.

•             Umer Farooq. Jaish commander who oversaw the execution of the attack and who assembled the bomb used in the attack. He was killed in an encounter in March 2020 along with another bomb-making expert, Kamran.

•             Shakir Bashir Magrey. He allegedly drove the car used in the attack but got off around 500 meters from the attack site. He was also involved in procuring materials and in monitoring the movement of security convoys.

•             Mohammed Iqbal Rather. He facilitated transport to pick up Pak-based terrorists and brought them into Kashmir.

•             Bilal Ahmed Kuchey. Allegedly procured high-end mobile phones for Jaish, one of which was used to record a video as Adil Ahmed Dar slammed his vehicle into the CRPF convoy.

This was the chronology of the attack. Mohammed Umer Farooq infiltrated in India in late 2018 from the Sambha sector in Jammu region and took over as Jaish-e-Mohammad commander of Pulwama. RDX was brought by the Pakistani terrorists who infiltrated into India, and was stocked by another accused, Shakir Bashir, at his house for making the IED in January 2019. Farooq, along with his Pakistani friends, planned and prepared for the attack on security forces using IEDs. Shakir Bashir, Insha Jan, Peer Tariq Ahmad Shah and Bilal Ahmad Kuchey provided all logistics and sheltered the JeM terrorists in their houses. Sajjad Ahmad Bhat purchased a Maruti Eeco car for the purpose of carrying out the IED attack,which was driven by Bashir initially before he handed it over to Dar. Towards the end of January 2019, Mohammad Umar Farooq, Sameer Dar and Adil Dar made the propaganda video clip of the suicide attack at Insha Jan’s house which was released immediately after the attack.

The post Will Pakistan Escape FATF’s Black-listing? appeared first on IMR.