FO rubbishes reports of unfreezing accounts of UN sanctioned individuals

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Monday categorically dismissed reports of unfreezing the bank accounts of the UN designated persons, saying that ‘targeted financial sanctions’ on the persons are still in place, ARY News reported.

In a statement, FO spokesperson Aisha Farooqui termed ‘factually incorrect and misleading” the report published in an English news paper yesterday that had claimed restoration of the bank accounts of the UN sanctioned individuals.

The bank accounts belonging to the UN designated persons have not been unfrozen by Pakistan, she added.

Aisha Farooqui said that the UNSC 1267 sanctions committee had granted basic expense exemptions to the designated individuals in 2019, in accordance with the exemption provisions of the relevant UNSC resolutions provided for in the relevant UNSC resolutions.

The exemptions were granted to allow these individuals to meet their basic expenses and do not involve any restoration or unfreezing of the bank accounts, she added.