ISLAMABAD: A sub-committee meeting on Tuesday observed that law enforcement and security agencies lacked proper training to investigate the financing of terrorist activities.

The high-level meeting was headed by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar who asked the participants to finalise their proposals to prevent financing for terrorist organisations and also describe a mechanism for their effective implementation, said an official statement.

It was observed during the meeting that the focus of security agencies was more on nabbing terrorists rather than looking for their sponsors, which was the root cause of the problem.

There was also no system to maintain consolidated data on prosecutions carried out by law enforcement, which could be shared by the agencies to further help their investigation.

The meeting discussed terrorist funding under the garb of charities, emphasising fresh registration and fool proof monitoring of all such organisations.

Deep concern on narco-trafficking, which it thought was a potent source of funding, was also discussed. There was also an emphasis laid on coordination with international agencies to curb terror financing.

The absence of proper legislation to regulate and monitor international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) working in the country added to the problems faced by investigators, the participants noted.

It was the consensus view of the participants that under the prevalent legal system, investigators, police, FIA etc, rarely invoked specific provisions relating to funding of terrorism as contained in the Anti-Terrorism Act and anti-money laundering laws.

Ishaq Dar urged the sub-committee to finalise recommendations which were practicable and could prove decisive in rooting out terrorist funding.