Islamabad, Feb 13: Ahead of the crucial Financial Action Task Force (FATF) meeting early next week, where Pakistan faces the risk to be 'grey-listed', the Shahid Khaqan Abbasi-led government swung into action, banning the Jamat-ud-Dawah (JuD), Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF), Al Akhtar Trust and Al Rashid Trust -- the outfits linked to UN-designated terrorist Hafiz Saeed.

Pakistan President Mahmoud Mamnoon Hussain reportedly approved the amendments to the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, in order to include JuD and FIF under the list of banned outfits. Both the organisations linked to Saeed evaded action so far by masquerading as NGOs, reports claimed.

As per the new ordinance, sections 11-B and 11-EE of the anti-terror law has been amended to include all those outfits under the banned category which have been designated as unlawful by the UN.

According to the Pakistani daily Dawn, the crackdown on Saeed's outfit by the civilian government is directly linked to the upcoming FATF meeting to be held between February 18-23. "US and India are spearheading an effort to get Pakistan included in the watchdog’s international money-laundering and terror-financing ‘grey list’," the report claimed.

If Islamabad gets included under the grey-list, it would not only hinder the country's overseas trade, but also turn international transactions more costlier for Pakistan.

The National Security Committee (NSC) -- the country's top civil-military coordination committee -- held a meeting on February 2 to analyse whether the federal and provincial governments have adhered to the guidelines issued by the FATF last year.

In November 2017, the FATF inter-ministerial meet had asked Pakistan to submit a compliance report on action taken against JuD and Lashkar-e-Taiba, the anti-India jihad outfit led by Saeed.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 13, 2018 10:28 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).