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regular-article-logo Friday, 06 December 2024

Pakistan immigration authorities on high alert to catch fleeing govt officials

FIA and airport officials say that they had received directives to remain alert and not to allow any official from leaving the country without an NOC

Our Bureau, PTI Islamabad Published 10.04.22, 12:58 PM
Islamabad International Airport.

Islamabad International Airport. Twitter.

Pakistan's premier investigation agency FIA has put its immigration staff at all international airports on high alert with a directive to stop any government official linked to the Imran Khan regime from travelling abroad without a No-Objection Certificate, a media report said on Sunday.

The move came hours after Prime Minister Imran Khan was ousted through a no-confidence motion in the National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament, the Dawn news reported.

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The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA)'s immigration staff at all international airports of the country was placed on high alert and directed to stop all those government officials who intend to travel abroad without an NOC, it said.

The Airport Security Force was also put on high alert, the report said, adding that the checking of passengers travelling abroad was stepped up.

The FIA and airport officials said that they had received directives to remain alert and not to allow any government official from leaving the country without an NOC.

They, however, did not specify who gave them directives.

Last week, Farah Khan, a close friend of ousted Prime Minister Khan's third wife Bushra Bibi, left for Dubai following reports that she could be arrested if a new government is installed in Pakistan.

Her husband Ahsan Jamil Gujjar has already left for the US.

The Opposition alleges that Farah received a huge sum of money for getting officers transferred and posted according to their choices, calling the scam the mother of all scandals amounting to 6 billion Pakistani rupees (USD 32 million).

Maryam Nawaz, the Pakistan Muslim League (N) Vice President and deposed premier Nawaz Sharif's daughter, claimed that Farah has done this corruption at the behest of Imran and his wife.

There are reports that close aides of Khan have planned to leave the country.

In a recent TV interview, Khan had claimed that the new government would launch a character assassination campaign against him and his wife.

Pakistan will have a new Prime Minister on Monday when the National Assembly, which was adjourned in the early hours of Sunday, reconvenes to elect a new head of the government after Khan was ousted from office through a no-confidence vote.

The combined Opposition has already named Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif as its joint candidate to replace Khan.

Khan, 69, the country's 22nd prime minister, was unceremoniously removed from the office through the no-confidence vote, becoming the first premier in Pakistan's history to be ousted through a no-trust motion.

The term of the current House is up to August, 2023.

No Pakistani prime minister has ever completed a full five-year term in office.

The removal of Khan has set in motion the process to elect the new leader of the house.

Khan, who came to power in 2018 with promises to create a Naya Pakistan', was dogged by claims of economic mismanagement as his government battled depleting foreign exchange reserves and double-digit inflation.

Plea filed in Pak court to put Imran Khan, his ministers on Exit Control List

The Islamabad High Court will hear on Monday a petition seeking to place the names of Imran Khan, who has been ousted from power after losing a no-confidence vote, and the ministers in his cabinet on the Exit Control List (ECL) to prevent them from flying abroad.

Khan became the first premier in the country's history to be voted out of power through a no-confidence motion held early Sunday and vacated the Prime Minister's official residence minutes before he lost the crucial no-trust vote in the National Assembly.

"The Islamabad High Court (IHC) will hear on Monday an application requesting for placing the names of the former prime minister Imran Khan and ex-ministers on the Exit Control List (ECL), The News newspaper reported on Sunday.

The ECL is a system of border control maintained by the Government of Pakistan under the Exit from Pakistan (Control) Ordinance, 1981. The people on the list are prohibited from leaving the country.

The court will also order an investigation into an alleged threat letter, the report said.

Filed by Maulvi Iqbal Haider, the plea seeks a probe into the alleged threat letter and an inquiry against Khan and the ministers.

It has also requested the IHC to put Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Qasim Suri and Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States Asad Majeed on the ECL along with Khan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, the report said.

The joint Opposition's no-confidence motion, which required 172 votes in the 342-strong parliament to pass, was supported by 174 lawmakers on Sunday, ending Khan's prime ministerial term and seemingly bringing an end to the protracted political crisis in Pakistan.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, which ruled for over three-and-a-half years, had been struggling to stay in power as its allies joined hands with the joint Opposition that had been vying for an in-house change.

The much-anticipated vote followed on the heels of the perpetually drawn-out session of the National Assembly punctuated by long adjournments amid high political drama, as well as unverified swirling speculation gripping the nation.

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