Pak defence minister barred from travelling to China
Authorities from travelling to China on an official visit on Thursday barred Pakistan's Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, one of the beneficiaries of a graft amnesty struck down by the Supreme Court.
Authorities from travelling to China on an official visit on Thursday barred Pakistan's Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, one of the beneficiaries of a graft amnesty struck down by the Supreme Court.
Immigration officials were quoted by TV news channel as saying that Mukhtar was informed that he would not be alowed to board a pakistani international airlines flight to Beijing.
Mukhtar and his wife were prevented from boarding a Pakistan International Airlines flight to Beijing as his name was on a list of people barred from travelling abroad in the wake of the court's verdict.
Mukhtar, a close aide of President Asif Ali Zardari said he was scheduled to go China with the naval chief to take delivery of a warship. He said the Interior Secrectary had informed him that his name was in the list of people barred from travelling abroad before he reached the airport.
The naval chief later left for China on an official visit.
The Supreme Court declared the National Reconciliation Ordinance, a controversial law issued by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf to scrap corruption cases against over 8,000 people, including Zardari and his aides, void yesterday.
The National Accountability Bureau, Pakistan's anti-corruption agency, today revived cases that were withdrawn under NRO.
NAB also asked the interior ministry to place the names of all beneficiaries of NRO on the "Exit Control List", a move that will bar them from travelling out of Pakistan.
A NAB spokesman said 248 people had been included in the ECL so far.
Corruption cases against Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Defence Minister Mukhtar were dropped under NRO.