News & Comment
The Bajwa-Imran Regime Uses FATF as an Excuse to act as a Hired Facilitator for a Deal to Secure a Permanent US Presence in Afghanistan

News:

International media reported that the United States is likely to throw its weight behind Pakistan at the forthcoming plenary of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in Paris and save it at least from being placed in the “black list”, if not removed from the “grey-list.” The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is holding its plenary in Paris from 16 to 21 February 2020, when it is likely to review the progress made by Pakistan in plugging the loopholes in its legislative and administrative mechanism to check the flow of funds to “terrorist” organizations.

Comment:

The US had in 2018 supported the move by FATF to put Pakistan in the “grey list;” officially a list of “jurisdictions with strategic deficiencies,” in its legal regime to check money laundering and terrorist financing. It has been an open secret that the US used FATF to ensure Pakistan acted as a hired facilitator to bring the Afghan Taliban onto the negotiation table. The US wants Pakistan to force the Taliban to accept the US drafted peace agreement, which will make prominent a partial withdrawal of US forces, though in reality, the US will maintain a significant military presence. According to a Time Magazine report, published on 14^th February 2020, a “concluded deal contains secret annexes… a U.S. lawmaker and two Afghan officials confirmed that a long-term counterterrorism force numbering 8,600 U.S. troops, down from the current 13,000 (will remain in Afghanistan), is part of the deal.”

So, although the Muslims of Afghanistan, Pakistan and the wider region want a complete, humiliating US withdrawal, the treacherous Bajwa-Imran regime works to secure the poisonous US presence. After acting as a hired facilitator, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, said on 24^th January 2020 that Pakistan “should, in principle, be taken off the grey list.”

Pakistan’s successive leaderships have always used excuses to fulfill US demands, at the cost of the interests of Islam, Pakistan and its people. It was never in our interest to support the occupation of Afghanistan, dismantling the friendly Taliban regime in Kabul. However, Musharraf’s regime extended support, using the excuse that if Pakistan had not supported the US, Washington would have asked India for support. It was never in our interest to send our armed forces into the tribal areas to demolish the infrastructure supporting Jihad against the US in Afghanistan. However, the Kayani-Zardari regime did so, using the excuse that if Pakistan had not sent troops, then the US would violate our sovereignty by crossing the Durand Line in hot pursuit. It was never in our interest to dismantle the resistance operating in Kashmir, as India’s occupying forces had a fragile hold that could have been dislodged. However, the Raheel-Nawaz regime did so, using the excuse that any material support projects a stance of “terrorism,” which the international community does not like. Consequently, Modi annexed Occupied Kashmir with significantly reduced resistance. And now, it is certainly not in our interest to strike a deal for thousands of US troops to remain within striking distance of our nuclear assets. However, the Bajwa-Imran regime is working to secure a deal for US in Afghanistan, using the excuse that it will ease Pakistan’s economic woes.

The US is the open enemy of Islam and Muslims, with its strategic partnership with the Hindu State confirming that. The coming Khilafah (Caliphate) on the Method of Prophethood will treat the US as an enemy, supporting the Afghan Taliban and the Muslims of the tribal areas to expel the US from our region in humiliation. Allah (swt) said,

[فَاضْرِبُوا فَوْقَ الْأَعْنَاقِ وَاضْرِبُوا مِنْهُمْ كُلَّ بَنَانٍ]

“So strike above the necks and strike from them every fingertip[s].” [Al-Anfal 8:12].

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Shahzad Shaikh
Deputy to the Official Spokesman of Hizb ut Tahrir in Wilayah Pakistan