Pakistan To Be Placed Back On Terror-Financing Black List

Reuters: Global watchdog to put Pakistan back on terrorist financing watchlist: sources

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A global money-laundering watchdog has decided to place Pakistan back on its terrorist financing watchlist, a government official and a diplomat said on Friday, in a likely blow to Pakistan’s economy and its strained relations with the United States.

The move is part of a broader U.S. strategy to pressure Pakistan to cut alleged links to Islamist militants unleashing chaos in neighbouring Afghanistan and backing attacks in India.

It comes days after reports that Pakistan had been given a three-month reprieve before being placed on the list, which could hamper banking and hurt foreign investment.

The United States has spent the past week lobbying member countries of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to place Pakistan on a so-called grey list of nations that are not doing enough to combat terrorism financing.

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WNU Editor: So much for Pakistan's claims that they had a reprieve .... Pakistan claims it got three-month reprieve over terror financing watchlist, US refuses to confirm (Scroll.in), and they are now reacting .... Pakistan slams report of FATF putting it on terror financing watchlist (Indian Express). As to what is my take .... I am not surprised. Pakistan's has been playing a double game on this issue for years, and their time has now run out.

More News On Reports That Pakistan To Be Placed Back On Terror-Financing Black-List

Money laundering watchdog places Pakistan back on terrorist financing list with potentially painful consequences -- Business Insider
Pakistan to Be Placed Back on Terror-Financing List, Source Says -- Bloomberg
Global watchdog puts Pakistan on terror financing watchlist: Reports -- Scroll.in
Pakistan back on global terror watch list after China withdraws objection: Reports -- India Today

US Witness Links Pakistan's ISI, Militants

David Headley, Witness In Terror Trial, Ties Pakistani Spy Agency To Militant Group -- Washington Post

CHICAGO — A confessed Pakistani American terrorist took the stand in a Chicago courtroom Monday and described a close alliance between Pakistan’s intelligence service and the Lashkar-i-Taiba terrorist group, alleging that Pakistani officers recruited him and played a central role in planning the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

David Coleman Headley’s long-awaited testimony at the start of a trial with international repercussions resolved one question at the outset: Federal prosecutors did not hesitate to connect Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI) to the attacks that killed 166 people, including six Americans.

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More News On The U.S. Trial That Implicates Pakistan's Intelligence Services With Militant Extremists

Pakistan intelligence service coordinated with Mumbai attackers -- The Telegraph
Mumbai terror group had links with Pakistan intelligence, Chicago trial told -- The Guardian
Key Mumbai Terror Plot Planner Testifies at Chicago Trial -- ABC News
Pakistan denies ISI role in Mumbai attack -- Hindustan Times
U.S. trial risks raising tensions with Pakistan -- Reuters

Suicide Attatck Targets Pakistani Soldiers, Killing And Wounding Dozens

Many Die In Pakistan Suicide Blast -- Al Jazeera

At least 30 soldiers killed after bomber dressed as a schoolboy struck an army recruitment centre in the northwest.

At least 30 soldiers have been killed and 18 others wounded in an explosion inside an army recruitment centre in northwest Pakistan.

"The bomb blast took place inside a military area, we have reports that several soldiers have been killed in the blast. There was an army parade at the time of the blast," Abdullah Khan, a senior police officer in Mardan, said on Thursday morning.

The army has carried out a series of offensives against the al Qaeda-linked Pakistani Taliban movement, which claimed responsibility for the attack.

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More News On Today's Suicide Attack In Pakistan

Boy suicide bomber kills 31 at Pakistan army -- Reuters
Death toll rises to 31 in attack on Pakistani army recruits -- Xinhuanet
Suicide Blast Kills Targets Pakistani Soldiers -- Voice of Attack
Teenage bomber kills several soldiers -- UPI
Officials: Suicide bomber attacks Pakistani military training center -- CNN
Pakistan bomber was 'in school uniform' -- BBC

Are Pakistan's New Terror Networks A Threat Against The U.S. Homeland?

Devastation: Pakistani policemen and onlookers gather as smoke billows from the burning Marriott Hotel in 2008 (AFP)

Pakistan's New Networks of Terror -- Foreign Policy

It's not just about Waziristan anymore. How the country's various militias are joining forces -- and what it could mean for attacks within the United States.

On May 28, several mercenaries invaded two mosques in Lahore, Pakistan's second-largest city, and ended up mowing down nearly 100 Ahmadis, members of a breakaway sect that was officially declared to be non-Muslim in the mid-1970s. The killing was one of the boldest and most deadly in a year of bold and deadly attacks in Pakistan. And it pointed to a frightening development in Pakistani terrorism. The militants had a typical profile for jihadists in Pakistan, having trained in North Waziristan in camps connected to the Pakistani Taliban (TTP). But it also seems likely that they were connected to local Punjabi terrorist groups. In a sign of Pakistan's increasing chaos, the groups that were formerly barricaded in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) along the Afghanistan border are now joining forces with groups around the country -- and the result is a networked terrorism outfit with an ever-growing capacity to produce pain and mayhem.

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My Comment: Pakistan terror groups have been active outside of Pakistan .... why not the U.S. But considering how bloody Pakistan's civil war has become in the past year .... coupled with U.S. targeted CIA drone strikes in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas .... I am sure there are many in the region who wish to inflict the same harm and destruction onto the U.S. homeland.

The Growing Terror Hub In Pakistan

U.S. Links Reveal Rising Pakistani Terror Hub -- CBS News

This story was filed by CBS News' Farhan Bokhari, based in Islamabad.

In a dimly lit room, in a private apartment in central Karachi, a local security official barked at eight young men summoned at short notice. The Thursday night encounter was just one of many interrogations based on leads into Islamic militant activity in this booming city of 18 million.

"You must remember, if I ever found you hiding crucial information, I will personally come to your homes and beat you up. You will not find any place to hide, so you must always be forthright and honest," the official warned his attentive audience.

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Update: N.Y. bomb plot probe shows radicalism might be on the rise among Pakistani elite -- Washington Post

My Comment: Since the first World Trade bombing in 1993, terrorism plots and operations originating from Pakistan have targeted western and non-western targets. The fact that many new extremist recruits come from the Pakistani establishment that is suppose to stop this type of international terrorism is both troubling and a heads up on what we should expect for the future.

Pakistan And It's Connection To The Growth Of Global Islamic Extremism

Educated And Radical: Why Pakistan Produces Faisal Shahzads -- Christian Science Monitor

In Pakistan, educated middle-class youths such as Faisal Shahzad, the accused Times Square car bomber, have ready access to jihadist and other radical, anti-American resources.

What turns the affluent and educated offspring of the Pakistani middle-classes – young people such as Faisal Shahzad – toward militancy?

That’s a question some Pakistani analysts are mulling following the arrest last week of Mr. Shahzad, the accused Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad. If found guilty, he would add to a string of high-profile college-educated terrorists of Pakistani origin, including “Lady Al Qaeda” Aafia Siddiqui and 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

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More News On Pakistan

U.S. blames Pakistani Taliban for Times Square bomb plot -- Washington Post
Pakistani Taliban behind Times Square bombing attempt, White House says -- L.A. Times
US Officials: Pakistani Taliban Behind NY Bomb Attempt -- Voice of America
Pakistan Taliban Behind Times Sq Attack: AG Holder -- NPR
Pakistani Taliban led Times Square bomb plot -- Washington Times

Pakistan to Investigate Times Square Bomber Links -- Voice of America
U.S. urges Pakistan to cooperate in Times Square bomb probe -- Washington Post
U.S. Urges Action in Pakistan After Failed Bombing -- New York Times
U.S. Warns Pakistan After NY Bomb Attempt - Report -- New York Times/Reuters
Pakistan to come under U.S. pressure on militant hub -- Reuters
Pakistan Probes Alleged Terror Links to NYC Bomb -- New York Times/AP
Broke New York bomber collected cash from Pakistan -- Times Online
FBI travel to Pakistan as country’s Taleban blamed for Times Square attack -- Times Online
Clinton: US Expects More from Pakistan on Fighting Terror -- Voice of America

Pakistani soldiers clash with Taliban, 40 dead -- Reuters
Pakistan soldiers killed in Taliban clashes in Orakzai -- BBC
Taliban attack on army leaves 9 troops, 37 militants dead in northwest Pakistan -- Canadian Press
US Drones Kill at Least 10 in Pakistan -- Voice of America

Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud is brutal mastermind behind thwarted Times Square bombing -- New York Daily News
Q+A-Al Qaeda's relationship with Pakistan's Taliban -- Reuters
U.S. Pressure Helps Militants Overseas Focus Efforts -- New York Times
Militant facIgnored Swat Valley region revives Pakistan Taliban -- The Australian
Militants in no mood to talk -- Asia Times
Why Pakistan keeps exporting jihad -- Fareed Zakaria

Pakistani President Asif Zardari Admits Creating Terrorist Groups

Asif Zardari: His comments amount to an admission that Pakistan trained Islamic terrorists to launch attacks on India Photo: AP

From The Telegraph:

Pakistan's president has admitted his country created terrorist groups to help achieve its foreign policy goals.

Asif Zardari told a meeting of former senior civil servants in Islamabad, it was time to be honest about their deployment.

"Let us be truthful to ourselves and make a candid admission of the realities," he said. "The terrorists of today were the heroes of yesteryears until 9/11 occurred and they began to haunt us as well."

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My Comment: I had to read this news report twice to make sure that what I was reading was not a figment of my imagination. This admission by Pakistan is big news .... and is the necessary first step for reconciliation between Pakistan and India, as well as Pakistan and its U.S. ally.

The next step will be to extradite the leaders of these terrorist groups to India .... but that is something that I do not think Pakistan is ready to do.

Mumbai Attack: Act Now, Or We’ll Act, America Warns Pak

From Indian Express:

Islamabad: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has told Pakistan that there is ‘irrefutable evidence’ of involvement of elements in this country in the Mumbai Terror attacks and it had no option but to act urgently and effectively to avert a strong international response.

Rice ‘pushed’ the Pakistani leaders to move against the perpetrators of the terror strikes warning that ‘otherwise, the US will act,’ the 'Dawn' reported on Saturday.

The clear message was conveyed to Pakistan's top leadership by Rice during her brief stopover in Islamabad on Thursday, diplomatic sources said, giving credence to the report.

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My Comment: Pakistan is not going to do anything against the terror groups that exists in its country. As long as they continue to attack India and non-Pakistanis, these groups are just acting to preserve Pakistan's interests. Even with International pressure being put on them, they will state that they will do something .... but in the end do nothing.

This strategy worked n the past, but I doubt that it will work now. A line as crossed last leek, and many in India want their revenge in turn.

Suicide Attacks Kill Scores In Pakistan

Nearly 60 Dead In Pakistan Blasts
-- Yahoo News/Reuters

SLAMABAD (Reuters) - Two suicide bombers blew themselves up outside Pakistan's main defence industry complex on Thursday as workers were leaving at the end of their shift, killing nearly 60 people, police said.

Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility.

Pakistan is on the front line of the U.S.-led campaign against terrorism and al Qaeda-linked militants have launched a wave of attacks on the security forces over the past year, bombing military camps, patrols and transport.

The violence combined with political uncertainty has helped undermine investor confidence and send the country's financial markets on a downward spiral.

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More News On Pakistan

Suicide Attack at Pakistan Arms Plant Kills 60 People -- New York Times
Suicide blasts kill 57 at Pakistan arms factory -- AFP
Pakistan: Arms factory suicide attack kills scores -- CNN
Pakistan bombers hit arms factory -- BBC News
70 killed in terror strike at Pakistani ordnance factory -- Thaindian

My Comment: This is a clear shot at the Pakistani military. The Taliban are no longer attacking soldiers and police, they are now going after the infrastructure of the military. They are also now attacking everywhere in Pakistan. There are no longer any safe havens in the country.