Govt seeks details of payment to lobbyists, lawyers abroad

Cabinet receives briefing from interior ministry on investigations in UK

ISLAMABAD: The government has asked the relevant ministries to apprise the ministers of the expenditures incurred on lobbyists and lawyers in the United States and the United Kingdom for pursuing matters of national importance in these countries.

The payment to the lobbyists and law firms came under discussion during a recent cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan. The cabinet received a briefing from the interior ministry about the cases and investigations the Pakistan government was pursuing in the UK.

The ministers asked the law ministry to inform them about the expenditures incurred so far on pursuing cases of national importance in other countries. The Foreign Affairs Ministry was also directed to provide details of the money the government had spent on lobbyists in the US for pro-Pakistan agenda.

 

During the meeting, the interior ministry informed the cabinet that a transactional criminal network was operating from London in the guise of a political party and that the network had been vigorously pursuing anti-Pakistan agenda amongst the Pakistani diaspora in various countries using the British soil.

While doing this with impunity, the culprits had also been openly approaching enemies of Pakistan for political, diplomatic and financial assistance. It was also informed that these activities had been a matter of concern for Pakistan as these elements had launched a campaign to malign and destabilise the country.

The meeting was informed that the past governments made efforts to counter these malicious activities through various legal cases in the UK but could not achieve the desired results due to perceived protection by the British authorities and lack of a mechanism to pursue these cases as per British law.

These cases under investigation in the UK include the Dr Imran Farooq murder case, a money laundering case and an investigation regarding incitement of violence. The cabinet was informed that a British law firm, Guernica International, was hired at £25,000 per month to pursue these cases in the UK.

The ministers heard that the original invoices had been received from the solicitor with a fee of £133,450 for a period from February to June 2018, while £100,000 more was required for the remaining contractual period -- until October 2018.

This made the total amount to £233,450 and the cabinet was requested to approve it as supplementary grant. The cabinet approved the grant but directed the law ministry to give a briefing on the expenditure incurred so far on pursuing cases of national importance in foreign countries.