NAB on standby as Sharif boards return flight

Bureau seeks access to plane taking deposed PM back to Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: As Nawaz Sharif is scheduled to arrive in Pakistan today (Thursday) from London, the National Accountability Court (NAB) has approached the Airport Security Force (ASF) and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), seeking access to the plane carrying the deposed premier.

Sharif left for Islamabad from London’s Heathrow Airport on Wednesday night on PIA flight PK 786. He is to appear before the accountability court on Friday, November 3, in connection with a reference filed against him by NAB in line with the Supreme Court directive in the Panamagate case.

Through the letter ‘number 1-2 (GC)/DG/NAB(R) 2017’ – written to the ASF chief security officer at Benazir Bhutto International Airport (BBIA) Islamabad and the airport manager, CAA – Muhammad Wasif Bhatti, Additional Director (Staff) for DG NAB, cited bailable arrest warrant issued by an accountability court on October 26 and directed that the accused be produced in the court on November 3.

“It is therefore requested that the officers/ officials of this Bureau may be allowed access to Flight PK 786 for compliance of the orders of the learned court,” the letter said.



Some reports suggested that ASF and CAA had denied access to the NAB team to the flight but the reports could not be confirmed or verified by any authentic source.

A government official, requesting anonymity, said that ASF and CAA were bound to comply with the court orders and the NAB letter, and there was no reason to deny access to the NAB team.

“I think the NAB team will be able to get the desired access. It’s a routine procedure,” the official said.

It was still not clear whether the NAB team would simply hand summons issued by the accountability court to Sharif or they would formally arrest him.

On the other hand, PM’s spokesman and senior PML-N leader Musadik Malik did not see any issue with NAB seeking access to Sharif’s flight.

 

A copy of NAB letter. PHOTO: Express

“There should be no problem. The arrest warrant is bailable,” he told a group of journalists, in a brief response, at the PM Office when asked to comment on the matter.

The PM’s spokesman briefed the media about the three-month performance of the federal government under the leadership of the incumbent prime minister.

He termed the Supreme Court’s decision to disqualify Sharif as ‘biased’. “This is a biased decision… still our government is implementing it, but nobody accepts it,” Malik said.

When asked how far PM Abbasi succeeded in acting as a ‘bridge’ between Sharif and the security establishment to iron out differences, he said, “The prime minister is playing his role as chief executive of the country and dealing with all the related issues in that capacity.”

To a query, the spokesman said Sharif did not have any role in the affairs of the federal government and PM Abbasi was taking the related decisions independently.

Sharif left for London on October 5 to attend to his ailing wife. He missed the accountability court hearing on October 26 for which he was issued bailable arrest warrant.

Recently, the PML-N chief postponed his arrival in Pakistan thrice and went to Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah along with his mother. Reports suggest that Sharif stayed in Saudi Arabia to meet Saudi royalties to seek their support in dealing with the crisis he was facing at home.

The ex-premier’s decision to land back home was first announced after recent meetings in London attended by PM Abbasi, Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif and other senior party leaders, under the chair of the ex-premier.

During the said meetings, Sharif handed an outright rejection to the advice of the prime minister and the Punjab chief minister against locking horns with state institutions, according to knowledgeable quarters in the ruling camp.

“He was advised consultation instead of confrontation,” said a party stalwart having a direct knowledge of what transpired during the huddle.

Shehbaz, in particular, is said to have minced no words in assuring his elder brother that he always stood by his side and would continue to do so, but the way loyalists were marginalised in the party at the expense of promoting ‘paratroopers’ was costing the PML-N dearly.

The ex-premier was further urged by his younger brother that he needed to differentiate between those who sacrificed for the party in the past to keep it intact and those who brought the party to the point where it is today — on the verge of isolation.

Reportedly, Sharif sounded unhappy mentioning that senior cabinet members and party leaders were openly criticising his policies and putting their weight behind Shehbaz.

The former PM is expected to stay in Pakistan for a few days before leaving for London to attend to his wife Kulsoom Nawaz.

Earlier, talking to the media in London before his departure for Islamabad, Sharif declared that he was ready to face any court. “My personal family issues on one side, I am going to Pakistan to appear before the NAB court on 3rd November,” he said.

Responding to a question, the deposed prime minister said it was not for the first time that he and his family had been dragged through the courts. “We have faced sham trials before… but we never ran away and faced accountability time and again,” he said.

Sharif made it clear that he never liked his disqualification decision by the Supreme Court but acted upon the court orders and surrendered before the law of Pakistan, without resorting to any delaying tactics or running away from the courts under any pretext.

“What’s the scandal that I have been involved in? What’s the issue? What’s the charge-sheet against me? What is the case of assets beyond means against me? What’s this whole drama in the name of accountability? Is this an NICL scandal? Is this a NACTA scandal? Is this the Hajj scandal? Or is this an IPP scandal?”

Sharif said he had yet to comprehend why “this whole exercise in the name of accountability” had been rolled out against him.

“The case started in the name of Panama… my name was not even [mentioned] in the Panama [papers], it’s still not there, nothing was found against me in Panama, not until today. When nothing was found in Panama against me, I was ousted using Iqama. I am shocked and saddened that this drama has been staged because it is Pakistan that has suffered and continues to suffer,” he lamented.

The deposed PM said that cases against him and his family had been ‘framed’ but he expressed his belief that “history will view these cases for their true worth, aims and objectives, which are political. This is now going to spread far and beyond”.

He said he met people in Saudi Arabia during his recent visit to the country for Umrah, and met people from Karachi who congratulated him on restoring peace there through a successful operation.

Responding to a question, Sharif recalled the state the country was in when he took power after the 2013 elections.

“Pakistan was under attack at that time, we turned it around through our policies. Now cricket matches are being played in Pakistan… international cricket has returned.”