Trans-national terror: UN team arrives next week to assess IS threat
Experts to also discuss activities of banned outfits put on watch list under UN resolution
Experts to also discuss activities of banned outfits put on watch list under UN resolution.. PHOTO: REUTERS
ISLAMABAD:
A team of experts from the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) will visit Islamabad next week to discuss the threat posed by militant groups, including the Islamic State (IS), which has set up a self-styled caliphate on large swathes of land in Syria and Iraq.
Officials familiar with the UNSC team’s proposed agenda told The Express Tribune on Sunday that the experts will discuss reports that IS, also known as Daish and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, is trying to strengthen in footprint in Pakistan.
Intelligence reports have indicated that the ultraorthodox group is trying to recruit fighters particularly from Balochistan and the tribal belt. Both regions are considered strongholds of extremist groups believed to be ideologically close to IS. Some Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commanders have already pledged allegiance to IS.
Pakistani authorities are still assessing whether the IS threat in the country is real or if local groups are using the militant outfit’s name to attract attention.
The issue was one of the talking points during US Secretary of State John Kerry’s recent visit to Islamabad. A US diplomat familiar with the discussions said that Pakistan’s civil and military authorities were ‘very concerned’ about IS attempts to establish a foothold in the country.
“Since IS first arose last year, there has been a pretty consistent concern from the Pakistani government across military and civilian intelligence channels that this is something that they have to keep a very close eye on,” the diplomat said. Both Pakistan and the United States are closely cooperating to preempt any attempts by IS to make inroads in this region.
Asked how serious the threat is, the American diplomat said: “At this time, we still have to make an assessment whether those are opportunistic or actually show a more significant kind of threat. At this point it appears they’re more opportunistic, but certainly everybody is being very vigilant about that and wants to ensure that we do whatever we can to combat it.”
An interior ministry official told The Express Tribune that the reported presence of IS in Pakistan would be the key agenda item during the upcoming visit of the UNSC team.
“The agenda of the UNSC team is to discuss activities of banned outfits put on the watch list under UNSC Resolution 1267,” he said on condition of anonymity. On UN’s recommendation, Pakistan has already banned numerous organisations listed under the UNSC Resolution 1267.
The UNSC experts will stay in Islamabad for two days and receive briefings from Pakistan’s foreign and interior ministries on the latest crackdown on proscribed groups in the country, the official said. After sharing its views about Pakistan’s latest steps to counter global terror groups as well its homegrown militants, the experts will present their recommendations in the next UNSC meeting.
Achieving the objectives of UNSC Resolution 1540 will also come under discussion, the official added. Former interior minister Rehman Malik said the government should convey its concerns to the UNSC team about the countries which are financing militants in Pakistan. UN Resolution 1540 (2004) makes it obligatory for all states to introduce legislation to prevent such activities, he added.
“The ban on proscribed organisations must also be seen on the ground in Pakistan. With that we can plead our case at the UN against the states bankrolling militants in our country,” Malik added.
Amir Rana of the Pakistan Institute of Policy Studies said the UN usually takes up the issue of a trans-national terror organisation regardless of where it operates from if a country expresses its concerns against it. Similarly, Pakistan has been complaining against terror groups at the UN forum which were reportedly operating from other countries, he recalled.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 19th, 2015.
A team of experts from the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) will visit Islamabad next week to discuss the threat posed by militant groups, including the Islamic State (IS), which has set up a self-styled caliphate on large swathes of land in Syria and Iraq.
Officials familiar with the UNSC team’s proposed agenda told The Express Tribune on Sunday that the experts will discuss reports that IS, also known as Daish and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, is trying to strengthen in footprint in Pakistan.
Intelligence reports have indicated that the ultraorthodox group is trying to recruit fighters particularly from Balochistan and the tribal belt. Both regions are considered strongholds of extremist groups believed to be ideologically close to IS. Some Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commanders have already pledged allegiance to IS.
Pakistani authorities are still assessing whether the IS threat in the country is real or if local groups are using the militant outfit’s name to attract attention.
The issue was one of the talking points during US Secretary of State John Kerry’s recent visit to Islamabad. A US diplomat familiar with the discussions said that Pakistan’s civil and military authorities were ‘very concerned’ about IS attempts to establish a foothold in the country.
“Since IS first arose last year, there has been a pretty consistent concern from the Pakistani government across military and civilian intelligence channels that this is something that they have to keep a very close eye on,” the diplomat said. Both Pakistan and the United States are closely cooperating to preempt any attempts by IS to make inroads in this region.
Asked how serious the threat is, the American diplomat said: “At this time, we still have to make an assessment whether those are opportunistic or actually show a more significant kind of threat. At this point it appears they’re more opportunistic, but certainly everybody is being very vigilant about that and wants to ensure that we do whatever we can to combat it.”
An interior ministry official told The Express Tribune that the reported presence of IS in Pakistan would be the key agenda item during the upcoming visit of the UNSC team.
“The agenda of the UNSC team is to discuss activities of banned outfits put on the watch list under UNSC Resolution 1267,” he said on condition of anonymity. On UN’s recommendation, Pakistan has already banned numerous organisations listed under the UNSC Resolution 1267.
The UNSC experts will stay in Islamabad for two days and receive briefings from Pakistan’s foreign and interior ministries on the latest crackdown on proscribed groups in the country, the official said. After sharing its views about Pakistan’s latest steps to counter global terror groups as well its homegrown militants, the experts will present their recommendations in the next UNSC meeting.
Achieving the objectives of UNSC Resolution 1540 will also come under discussion, the official added. Former interior minister Rehman Malik said the government should convey its concerns to the UNSC team about the countries which are financing militants in Pakistan. UN Resolution 1540 (2004) makes it obligatory for all states to introduce legislation to prevent such activities, he added.
“The ban on proscribed organisations must also be seen on the ground in Pakistan. With that we can plead our case at the UN against the states bankrolling militants in our country,” Malik added.
Amir Rana of the Pakistan Institute of Policy Studies said the UN usually takes up the issue of a trans-national terror organisation regardless of where it operates from if a country expresses its concerns against it. Similarly, Pakistan has been complaining against terror groups at the UN forum which were reportedly operating from other countries, he recalled.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 19th, 2015.