
Cheers

The U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a resolution Thursday naming terrorist financing a serious crime and demanding that all countries set up a domestic legal framework to counter the practice.
Mr. Voronkov said that the Security Council resolution demanded that every country “ensure that their domestic laws and regulations establish terror financing as serious criminal offense.”
The Security Council resolution, initiated by France, is the first of its kind, representing a binding call to action for countries to alter domestic laws to fight terror financing through all means. The U.N. can enforce violators with punitive actions such as sanctions. The U.N. action comes days after the New Zealand mosque attacks but is aimed at international networks and organized groups that fund and promote terrorism.
France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told the Council that terrorist groups like Islamic State and al Qaeda “are not disappearing. Quite the contrary, they are adapting.” Diplomats and U.N. officials addressing the Council stressed the importance of the implementation of the resolution’s requirements to have impact. The Financial Action Task Force—a global, intergovernmental entity set up to fight money-laundering and terrorist financing—estimates that less than one-fifth of the world’s nations have laws that label terror financing as a crime. Marshall Billingslea, the president of FATF, told the Security Council on Thursday that the resolution will enable his organization to pressure more countries into criminalizing terror financing and block ransom payments to terrorist groups.
While some may see this as another toothless endeavor, methinks the screws are turning slowly for Bakistani types of the world.In 2017, the U.N. set up the Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) to combat and monitor terrorist threats around the globe and their financing. The resolution approved Thursday calls on this group to take the lead in identifying how countries should stop financing terror, legally or illegally.
dhyana wrote:U.N. Security Council Asks Nations to Adopt Laws on Terror Financing
Behind a paywall, but relevant excerpts...
.........{Rest Snipped}...........
"It is important that current structures like FATF (Financial Action Task Force) and the 1267 Sanctions regimes are not used as political tools by some to advance their geopolitical goals,"
"Yet killings continue in occupied Jammu and Kashmir and Palestine,"
"Brutalization and oppression of people struggling for their legitimate right to self-determination constitutes state terrorism. This too should be the focus of international attention."
From the same press conference championing Islamic Terrorism, PRC shows a lack of love for her own Uighur Mohammaddens and refuses to own up to the abuses the PRC has dished out to the Uighurs:Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang's Regular Press Conference on March 28, 2019 …..
Q: So the US has circulated a draft resolution to UN Security Council to blacklist Masood Azhar. Given that China has vetoed past actions to add Masood Azhar to the sanctions blacklist, what is China's response to this recent draft resolution?
A: I will need to correct you. China has not vetoed anything relating to this matter. We put a hold on the application and voiced a different view in the sanctions committee. It's something completely different from a veto in the Security Council.
Follow-up: You are saying that China has never blocked actions to add Azhar to the sanctions blacklist?
A: You are referring to the 1267 Committee. That and the Security Council, to which your original question is related, are two different levels.
Follow-up: Can you then just comment on this draft resolution to the UN Security Council?
A: The request to designate Masood a global terrorist was put forward to the Security Council 1267 Committee not long ago. China has put a technical hold on the application as more time is needed for a comprehensive and thorough assessment. This is in line with the rules of procedure of the 1267 Committee and there are many such precedents.
The Masood designation issue involves a series of complicated factors. China has noted that relevant parties have expressed willingness to conduct dialogue and consultation. China has also been promoting proper settlement of the issue through dialogue. Under current circumstances, the Security Council should act prudently and play a constructive role by allowing time and space for dialogue and consultation between parties concerned.
The US is bypassing the 1267 Committee by putting forward its draft resolution directly to the Security Council. Such an act will do nothing to facilitate a solution through consultation and will only lead to further complication of the issue. It has undermined the authority of the 1267 Committee as a main counter-terrorism agency at the Security Council and is not conducive to upholding the unity of the Security Council.
China urges the US to respect the will and efforts of parties to the issue and observe traditions of the Security Council to safeguard the 1267 Committee's authority and the Security Council's unity. We hope the US will by all means exercise prudence and refrain from forceful actions.
From PRC Foreign Ministry website here:Q: After meeting with people who accounted "abuses" while being held in one of China's "reeducation centers" for Uyghurs, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo denounced China's treatment of Muslims. I wonder if you could comment on this.
A: The Xinjiang affairs are purely China's internal affairs. Xinjiang currently enjoys social stability, good momentum for economic growth and harmony among all ethnic groups. Residents there now have a much stronger sense of security and fulfillment. Xinjiang has taken preventive measures by setting up the vocational and educational training centers for counter-terrorism and de-radicalization purposes. Such lawful measures have been endorsed by people of all ethnic groups and delivered social benefits.
Facts speak volumes that the vocational and educational training centers are by no means the so-called "reeducation camps" painted by the US and other Western countries. China deplores and firmly opposes the absurd remarks made by some US individuals on Xinjiang, which constitute gross interference in China's internal affairs. We have made stern representations to the US side.
China never accepts the false accusations and slanders made by the US against the Chinese government and its Xinjiang policies. Once again we urge the US to respect the facts, abandon bias, exercise prudence in its words and deeds, stop tarnishing and making unfounded accusations against China and using Xinjiang-related affairs as tools to interfere in China's internal affairs, and make efforts to enhance China-US cooperation and mutual trust instead of the contrary.
We need to be on our guard. Pak has a history of terror strike in India, when it get's keys to IMF money. It indicates US support and they use this to carry out attacks.Peregrine wrote:X Posted on the P E S W Thread
Bailout package likely by mid-May, says finance minister - Monitoring Desk
CheersThe State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) raised its key interest rate by 50 basis points to 10.75 per cent on Friday, citing continuing inflationary pressures and a high fiscal and current account deficit.
IMF has given target of 12% as the lending rate and an exchange rate of 180 paki rupees to the $ as condition for giving 8-12 Billion as aid (to be announced in May or June).Peregrine wrote:State Bank raises key interest rate by 50 basis points to 10.75%CheersThe State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) raised its key interest rate by 50 basis points to 10.75 per cent on Friday, citing continuing inflationary pressures and a high fiscal and current account deficit.
Peregrine wrote:State Bank raises key interest rate by 50 basis points to 10.75%Cheers
Vips Ji :Vips wrote:IMF has given target of 12% as the lending rate and an exchange rate of 180 paki rupees to the $ as condition for giving 8-12 Billion as aid (to be announced in May or June).
Vips Ji :Vips wrote:Peregrineji there were some AV's i had seen. Trying to find them. One about Exchange rate is below from an ex adviser to Imran Khan:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGxsDMuy8zo&t=5s
Would be even better if the decide to artificially prop up the exchange rate, like Ishaq Dar did. Either way, they are screwedPeregrine wrote: Hopefully I'm the Dim will take charge and Bite the Bullet to Devalue the Terroristani Rupee to 180 nay 200 to the US Dollar.
I think she is referring to the show whose video clip is embedded in this tweet:habal wrote:Gul Bukhari
@GulBukhari
·
10h
Gone from the cable network all over Pakistan,
@24NewsHD
has not even tweeted for the last 19 hours because in his show on the channel @najamsethi disclosed bitter fighting to the brink of divorce between PM Imran Khan & wife Pinky.
To Pakistan it is India that is a formidable enemy, one at whose hands it has suffered violent vivisection and a monumental military defeat. It is no wonder then that Pakistan is paranoid about India and has always leveraged its only strength, a much more strategic location, to corner it.
Second day in row and from the same press conference championing Islamic Terrorism, PRC shows a lack of love for her own Uighur Mohammaddens and refuses to own up to the abuses the PRC has dished out to the Uighurs:Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang's Regular Press Conference on March 29, 2019
2019/03/29 ……………………
Q: I've got a short one. This has been repeatedly brought up in recent days. China is accused of shielding terrorists for putting on hold the request to blacklist Masood in the UN Security Council 1267 Committee. I wonder what is your response?
A: Putting a technical hold is consistent with the 1267 Committee rules. It is not China that has put more technical holds than any other country in recent years in the committee. If China is accused of shielding terrorists, all countries having put technical holds must receive the same sentence. Following that logic, won't the country that has put more technical holds than any other country be called the top protector of terrorism?
China has put a technical hold on the relevant request in the 1267 Committee not long ago to get more time for a comprehensive and thorough review and to allow time and space for dialogue and consultation between relevant parties.
China has been in close contact with the parties concerned for a proper solution through dialogue. We hope all Security Council members can work together to this end.
Q: A follow-up on the 1267 Committee. When China put a technical hold in February, it had actually sought time to explain the rationale behind this move. Have you prepared your response regarding the rationale for your putting a technical hold on the proposal?
A: China has been in close contact with the relevant parties. Like we said, we will continue to play a responsible and constructive role in the 1267 Committee discussions. We also hope all relevant parties can work together for a proper solution.
Q: One very important aspect in all the four technical holds China put up on this particular issue is about providing evidence and the discussions between the two parties. Now whatever evidence India has provided like in the previous cases, Pakistan always came back to say that it is not enough. Don't you think it is also incumbent on the particular country which is facing the allegations to also probe and and provide evidence and those countries which are supporting the particular country to also take interest in that?
A: The 1267 Committee has clear criteria for the listing procedures. What China did conforms with Security Council resolutions and the 1267 Committee's rules of procedure.
As we have continuously emphasized, we will continue to play a responsible, constructive role and maintain communication with the relevant parties for a proper solution.
Both excerpts from PRC Foreign Ministry website here:Q: At yesterday's US State Department press briefing, Sam Brownback, ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, when talking about Xinjiang, said that "it's not just the camps anymore and people are limited on their movement in and out of the villages in that region". Do you have any comment?
A: China strongly rejects the remarks by the US ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom. Xinjiang currently enjoys social stability, good momentum for economic and social growth and harmony among all ethnic groups. Residents there now have a much stronger sense of security and fulfillment. China is firmly opposed to US interference in China's domestic affairs using Xinjiang as a pretext.
Q: My media organizations have interviewed Uygurs in Turkey claiming they have been tortured in " re-education camps" in Xinjiang. What is your response to these allegations? Second, when will international journalists and observers be allowed to visit these camps in Xinjiang that you say are training facilities?
A: You haven't been around lately, have you? I have answered many similar questions.
I do wonder why some journalists choose to believe the made-up stories of a handful of individuals overseas. Are you so sure they are telling the truth? Why on earth would you believe certain individuals' fake stories over the official statements of a responsible government? Truly, your judgment is beyond me.
As to visits to vocational education and training centers in Xinjiang, any follower of latest news or our press conferences will have noted that China has organized many such trips for foreign diplomats in China, foreign media and other foreign delegations. After seeing for themselves Xinjiang's social stability and people's sense of fulfillment, many of them commended China's Xinjiang policies. You may look for the wide news coverage of that online.
A controversy has erupted over the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) ahead of the second Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) summit in Beijing following allegations that the Pakistani government has diverted Rs 2,400 crore (around $171.6 million) meant for joint infrastructure development projects with China under BRI to other projects.
China had given the money as part of the $62-billion infrastructure funding to build the CPEC. However, Pakistan’s planning and development ministry issued an order diverting Rs 2,400 crore to projects to be identified by local legislators under the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals programme, according to sources.
The move could be part of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf ’s efforts to appease its lawmakers by allowing them to make decisions on development projects, said one person.
“The government committed theft by spending Rs 2,400 crore out of Rs 2,700 crore meant for BRI on other development projects,” Opposition leader Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman was quoted by local media.
Inflation rose to 9.41 percent year-on-year, up from 8.21 percent in February, Bureau of Statistics data showed on Monday, lifted by sharp rises in food, fuel and transport costs that have squeezed household budgets.
Pakistan’s currency has lost over a quarter of its value over the past year.
Digital currency?ISLAMABAD: As the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) promised issuing digital currency by 2025, Finance Minister Asad Umar on Monday asked the central bank and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to ensure top-class cybersecurity in the banking system to extend emerging benefits of digitalisation to the people.
ISLAMABAD: Differences between Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Jahangir Khan Tareen -- two bigwigs of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf -- again surfaced on Monday. More interestingly, other members of the cabinet also chipped in, mostly to throw their support to Tareen.
CheersThough, Tareen no more holds the slot of secretary general of PTI, following his disqualification by the Supreme Court, he commands considerable influence in the rank and file of the party, whereas Qureshi is vice-chairman.
Don't think Khan can go poop without authorisation from The Boys. Both Tareen and SMQ are subservient to the establishment in their own ways. What we are seeing is a struggle between the two to demonstrate who can be of greater use to their aaka and hence, must receive most patronage.K Mehta wrote:Smq is part of the milijirga. That is why he holds the external portfolio. Tareen is core PTI and threat to jirga, so was disqualified judicially. His coming back to PTI tells that Khan is loosing faith on the milijirga. Popcorn time ahead.
No way this "ISI ASSET" was in UAE, looks like the recent pressure is making Pakis to unofficially hand over the less valuable Jihadis.Peregrine wrote:X Posted on the X Posted on the J&K News and Discussion Thread
India gets custody of 2017 CRPF camp attack plotter from UAE - Bharti Jain – TNN
NEW DELHI: India has secured the deportation of Nisar Ahmed Tantray, a Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist and main conspirator behind the December 2017 attack on a CRPF camp at Lethpora in Jammu & Kashmir, from the UAE. Five security personnel were martyred in the attack during the intervening night of December 30 and 31, 2017, which ended with the killing of three Jaish terrorists.
Nisar Tantray, brother of Jaish divisional commander in South Kashmir Noor Tantray who earned fame as a “midget” terrorist being just four feet tall, was brought to Delhi by a special flight on Sunday and handed over to the NIA, which is probing the Lethpora case. Noor Tantray, said to have been instrumental in establishing Jaish in the Valley, was killed in an encounter in December 2017.
A warrant of arrest had been issued against deported terrorist Nisar Tantray by a special judge, NIA court, which facilitated his deportation. The UAE has been extending exemplary cooperation in deporting fugitives, including terrorists, in the past few years. They include AgustaWestland bribery case accused Christian Michel, alleged defence middleman Deepak Talwar, apart from several Islamic State sympathisers and terrorists, including senior Indian Mujahideen operative Abdul Wahid Siddibapa and 1993 Mumbai blasts accused Farooq Takla. Tantray is believed to have escaped to the UAE earlier this year.
This was just before another accused in the Lethpora case, Fayaz Ahmad Magray, a resident of Awantipora, Pulwama, was arrested in February. The three terrorists killed during the attack were identified as Fardeen Ahmed Khandey, a resident of Tral; Manzoor Baba, a resident of Drubgram, Pulwama; and a Pakistani terrorist namely Abdul Shakoor, a resident of Rawalakot area of POK.
Fayaz, arrested by the NIA, was an active overground worker of Jaish and a key conspirator who provided logistical support such as providing shelter to terrorists.
Cheers
Could be a means to prevent an in house coup from toppling dimmy and taking over. After all TSPA believes that only they have a monopoly on coups in Bakistan. I believe the idea here was to let Tareen know who's the real boss and no get carried away by his own hype like many who came before him (bijnessmen and hukmaran-turned-bijnessmen). He's been shown his place as the perpetual fixer, carrying out dirty work for the symbolic throne, but never to ascend the throne himself.K Mehta wrote:Yes but the fact that tareen was removed via judiciary, indicates the involvement of bakfauj. This is their current modus operandi to remove the non subservient people. Not everyone even in pak is completely subservient and some may even be defiant. It helps note the minor changes.