PTI's Shaukat Yousafzai barred from boarding UK-bound flight at Islamabad Airport

FIA officials cite ECL listing and arrest warrant against ex-MPA, leading to his offloading and subsequent return

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shaukat Ali Yousafzai was barred from flying to the United Kingdom from Islamabad Airport on Monday.

The former provincial minister and prominent PTI member was once again stopped while attempting to board a flight.

Yousafzai was trying to board a Turkish Airlines flight to Manchester via Turkey today.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) informed Yousafzai that he was prohibited from international travel, his name was on the Exit Control List (ECL), and there was an arrest order against him.

Subsequently, the former MPA was offloaded and sent back.

Despite being issued a boarding pass by Turkish Airlines, Yousafzai's travel plans to visit his daughter in Manchester were thwarted.

In January, an FIR was lodged against him at Karora Police Station in Shangla to stop him from performing Umrah.

Although he was later granted bail by the court, the federal government has not removed his name from the ECL yet. Consequently, Yousafzai was detained at Islamabad Airport for over ninety minutes before being offloaded and sent back.

Earlier on 28 June, former chief minister of Punjab and PTI President Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi filed a petition in the Lahore High Court (LHC) seeking the removal of his name from the ECL.

Elahi argued in his petition that he wished to travel abroad to perform Umrah. He claimed that the federal government unlawfully placed his name on the ECL.

On June 3, Journalist and YouTuber Imran Riaz was reportedly stopped from boarding a flight to depart for Hajj pilgrimage at the Islamabad Airport.

Imran moved the Lahore High Court (LHC) last year seeking the removal of his name from the Exit Control List (ECL) and Passport Control List (PCL) saying his name was added arbitrarily and randomly “relying upon presumptive considerations”.