ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office today (Thursday) categorically rejected ‘false media reports’, claiming Saudi Arabia voted against Pakistan in the ongoing plenary of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
According to a statement, FO spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri rejected fake media reports regarding Saudi Arabia’s role in the assessment of Pakistan’s FATF action plan.
“Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoy strong fraternal ties and the two countries have always cooperated with each other on all matters of bilateral, regional and international importance,” said the spokesperson.
The FO spokesperson called the report “malicious propaganda” and clarified that Pakistan greatly values its relations with Saudi Arabia. “FATF will announce its assessment of Pakistan’s progress on the Action Plan and the future course of action after the conclusion of its Plenary Meeting,” he added.
Earlier in the day, there were reports circulating on social media that Saudi Arabia has voted against Pakistan at the FATF plenary that began on Wednesday.
In this regard, Azhar Mashwani, Punjab chief minister’s focal person for digital media, said that reports of ‘Saudi Arabia voting against Pakistan in FATF’ were fake news and that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would issue a statement on this.
A virtual meeting of the FATF, from Oct 21-23, will decide if Pakistan should be excluded from its ‘grey list’, based on a review of the country’s performance to meet global commitments and standards on the fight against money laundering and terror financing.
