September 13, 2003	Saturday	Rajab 15, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, Sept 12: The United States is sending its treasury secretary John W. Snow to Pakistan to take up rather forcefully with the government here the issue of Islamabad’s seeming reluctance to legislate an appropriate anti-money laundering bill.

Mr Snow will reach Pakistan on Sept 19 and in Karachi he will visit a recently-registered foreign exchange company (hawala) to find out from market watchers the mechanics of money laundering through hundi.

The US is seeking greater support from Pakistan to trace financing of terrorists by adopting strict anti-money laundering measures and for reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The US treasury secretary would also have interaction with top officials of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and the State Bank of Pakistan on the question of terrorists financing and anti-money laundering efforts.

Mr Snow would be on a 10-day visit to the Middle East and South Asia, including Israel, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates besides attending the annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Dubai in the final leg of his trip.

According to a US information center press release, Pakistan has been an important partner in the war on terrorist financing and in the effort to regulate hawala and prevent their abuse by terrorists.

Pakistan had agreed with the US authorities in the aftermath of 9/11 to introduce an anti-money laundering law to track down channelling of the terrorist financing through ‘hundi and hawala’.

The senior US officials have been in constant touch with the Pakistani officials in the central bank, finance ministry, SECP and NAB to finalize the anti-money laundering law.

The transfer of money to Pakistan from abroad by overseas Pakistanis has mostly been diverted to official channels through administrative measures but the anti-money laundering law could not be introduced in parliament so far.

The recent review mission of the IMF was told by the authorities that the law was now ready to be presented before parliament for approval.