Ialamabad, Dec 18:Mr Mukhtar said his delegation left for China without him Pakistani Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar has said that immigration officials stopped him from boarding a plane for an official visit to China.
He is one of around 250 officials being investigated by Pakistan’s anti-corruption agency.
The supreme court recently ruled that an amnesty protecting senior members of government was unconstitutional.
Those under investigation are barred from leaving Pakistan but have so far not been named.
The controversial amnesty was brought in by the previous president, Pervez Musharraf, and its removal opens the way to possible prosecution for allies of the current President, Asif Zardari .
Mr Zardari himself faces several pending court cases against him in Pakistan but is protected by presidential immunity.
Before taking office, he spent years in jail after being convicted on corruption charges he says were politically motivated.
Pakistan’s main opposition, the Pakistan Muslim League-N of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, has called on the president to resign.
‘I cannot leave’
Mr Mukhtar told that his name was on the “exit list” restricting travel and that the federal investigation authorities had said he could not leave the country.
He told that he had been planning to visit China for three days on an official visit in connection with the delivery of a warship.
“My staff reached the airport along with other delegation members including the naval chief,” he said.
“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 inquiry which is pending against me for the past 12 years.”
He said he would “strongly defend” himself in court.
The minister added that his delegation had left for China without him late on Thursday.
Controversial amnesty
The amnesty was introduced by Mr Musharraf in order to allow Mr Zardari’s late wife, Benazir Bhutto, to return to the country and stand for office, with the aim of a possible power-sharing deal with Mr Musharraf.
She returned to Pakistan from abroad after the so-called National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) was signed into law, but was assassinated soon after.
It has only recently been revealed that more than 8,000 politicians and officials benefited from the legislation.
The Supreme Court has called for all these cases to be re-opened, with hundreds of senior politicians and civilian bureaucrats now facing criminal and corruption charges.
Pakistan is often ranked among the most corrupt countries in the world by anti-graft campaigners.
–Agencies