Shahzad Akbar succeeds in his stop-Shehbaz mission

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar has informed Prime Minister Imran Khan of the incident regarding Shehbaz Sharif’s offloading from the plane at Allama Iqbal Airport, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Saturday.

According to sources, SAPM Akbar was assigned the task to stop PML-N leader Shehbaz Sharif from leaving the country. 

The sources claimed that after succeeding in his mission, Mr Akbar informed Prime Minster Khan of the success of the job. 

The sources said that Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry also hinted at SAPM’s task in his Friday’s presser. They said that SAPM Akbar was in constant touch with the FIA officials. 

See Also: Shehbaz barred from leaving abroad

Meanwhile, the question as to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif’s name was put on the blacklist, rather than on the Exit Control List (ECL), seems to have been answered as it has been learned that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Lahore Director General (DG) had written a letter to the bureau chairman in this connection, but the latter did not approve it. 

Quoting sources in the Interior Ministry, the TV channel reported that the ministry put wanted people’s names on the no-fly list only when the NAB chairman gave a green signal to it, and that it was only on NAB’s recommendation that PML-N president’s name was put on the Provincial National Identification List (PNIL).  

The sources further told 24News TV channel that only the DG FIA was authorised either to put somebody’s name on the PNIL or remove from it and that the interior ministry had the authority only to include names on the ECL, and not on PNIL.   

See Also: Sindh CM says no one in bureaucracy wants to work with PTI

Earlier, in the early hours of Saturday morning, Shehbaz Sharif was not allowed to go abroad and was offloaded from a Doha-bound flight at Lahore International Airport.

This was notwithstanding the fact that on Friday, the Lahore High Court had allowed the PML-N president to travel abroad for medical treatment for once and also ordered the removal of his name from the blacklist.

Shehbaz Sharif was set to leave for Doha from the Lahore Airport on a Doha-bound flight, but he was offloaded by the FIA officials from the plane as his name was not yet removed from the blacklist.

Reporter Awais Kiyani