Islamabad, December 18: Pakistan’s Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar said he has been barred from leaving the country for an official visit to China after a Supreme Court decision revived a corruption case against him.
Mukhtar told local television late Thursday that his name was on a so-called exit list restricting travel and that the federal investigation authorities had said he cannot leave the country.
He was one of thousands of people affected by the supreme court decision Wednesday annulling a 2007 amnesty that had protected President Asif Ali Zardari and ministers from corruption charges.
“I was going to China on an official three-day visit. The visit was in connection with the delivery of a frigate,” Mukhtar told the private Geo television station.
“My staff reached the airport along with other delegation members including the naval chief. I was informed that my name is on the exit list… federal investigation authorities officials have said that I cannot leave the country.
“It was in connection with a corruption case. But there is no corruption case against me — it is only an enquiry which is pending against me for the past 12 years. I will strongly defend myself in the court.”
Mukhtar said the delegation left for China without him late Thursday.
The amnesty — called the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) — was passed in October 2007 by then-president Pervez Musharraf, who was under pressure to hold elections and end about eight years of military rule.
It quashed charges against a number of politicians including current president Zardari and his wife and ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto — who was assassinated two months later — to allow them to stand for office.
Zardari’s PPP went on to win elections in 2008, restoring civilian rule, but the NRO expired at the end of last month, prompting the Supreme Court to hear arguments against the decree and rule it unconstitutional.
—Agencies