UK requested for Sharif, Dar’s extradition: Akbar

Adviser to Prime Minister on Accountability and Interior Mirza Shahzad Akbar said on Wednesday that the UK authorities had been requested for the extradition of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and former finance minister Ishaq Dar.

Addressing a joint press conference with Special Assistant to Prime Minister for Political Communication Shahbaz Gill in Islamabad, he said Pakistan had written a letter to UK to cancel Sharif’s visa.

Akbar said that the six-month visa extension to Sharif had not yet been granted by the UK. “Negotiations are continuing with UK for the deportation of Nawaz,” Akbar told the reporters. former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

He also said that the British authorities had also been requested for the extradition of Ishaq Dar. Responding to a question, Akbar said that the last two governments did not make effort for the extradition of Mutahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) founder Altaf Hussain from the UK.

Shahzad Akbar said Dar stood totally exposed in the recent BBC interview. “The interview made it clear as to why Dar was an absconder and not appearing before the courts,” he said. He added that Dar had wrongly stated that he had only one property in Lahore, whereas he owned properties and bank accounts in Pakistan as well as in Dubai.

The adviser wondered why Dar had brazenly levelled baseless allegations of custodial killings against the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) at such an important forum like BBC. “It was a desperate effort to negate accusations levelled against him,” he added.

Shahzad Akbar said that the opposition had miserably failed to gather even a few thousand people in Multan on Monday. They had managed to gather only a small number of people at their public meeting. “The opposition is now trying to hold another small gathering in Lahore.”

Akbar warned that the opposition Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) was endangering lives of the people by exposing them to coronavirus by holding gatherings. “The opposition parties must act responsibly and stop playing with the lives of the people,” he added.

Speaking on the occasion, Gill said that Dar was trembling, during the interview. “Country’s enemies including the PML-N [Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz] leadership are trying utmost to declare Pakistan a fascist country. Their nefarious designs had already been foiled,” he said.

Gill said that the BBC was trying to interview Sharif since long. The interview of Dar was a combination of shamelessness and humiliation,” he said. “Dar should come back to Pakistan, give interview to the Pakistan media, but he would have to clear himself from corruption cases.”

According to Gill it was a travesty that those who could not even become a clerk, had remained the finance minister of Pakistan. He also criticised PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz. “The corrupt leaders sitting abroad should come back to the country and face the courts,” he said.