New Delhi: Warning that the twice-banned militant outfits in Pakistan are likely to resurface under new names, an international strategic think-tank funded by several Governments has castigated the Pervez Musharraf regime for doing "very little" to implement tougher controls on them and the madrasas flourishing in the country.

"Banned groups were allowed to continue working under new identities with the same leadership. Many, though banned a second time in November 2003, continue to function unhindered and are likely to resurface under new names again," the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) said in its latest report.

In a hard-hitting report entitled "Unfulfilled Promises, Pakistan's failure to tackle extremism", it asked the international community to "publicly urge" Pakistan to meet its obligations under a UN (United Nations) Security Council Resolution 1373, pointing out that "even al Qaeda was not officially banned until March 2003". Referring to Musharraf's call for an end to promotion of the "jihad" ideology, the ICG said, "Two years on, however the failure to deliver to any substantial degree on pledges to reform the madrasas and contain the growth of jihadi networks means that religious extremism in Pakistan continues to pose a threat to domestic, regional and international security."

It said Musharraf's failure owes less to the difficulty of implementing reforms than to the "military Government's own unwillingness". Observing that Pakistani laws on terrorism and extremist groups remained "muddled and opaque", the ICG said, "While the Government claims to be tackling terrorism, it has taken almost no steps towards restricting the extremism that permeates parts of society."

It said Musharraf was "indeed following the pattern of the country's previous military rulers in co-opting religious extremists to support his Government's agenda and to neutralise his secular political opposition.

"Far from combating extremism, the military Government has promoted it through its electoral policies and its failure to implement effective reform," the think-tank said, adding whatever measures taken so far to tackle extremism were "largely cosmetic, to ease international pressure".

Pointing out that Pakistan was "yet to sign" the International Convention for Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, it said Islamabad had "failed to check the flow of funds that could be used to finance acts of terrorism through official and unofficial banking channels, as required by the UN Security Council Resolution 1373". It quoted a report of the UN panel of experts on terrorist flows as saying that the banned al Rasheed Trust continues its operations in Pakistan under various names and partnerships, it has continued to be active in funding al-Qaeda related activities as well as other social and humanitarian projects.

The ICG pointed out that Pakistan "lacks Legislative provisions that allow Government to freeze funds, financial assets or economic resources of persons or entities suspected of terrorism on the request of another State."