August 18, 2003	Monday	Jumadi-us-Sani 19, 1424

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

ISLAMABAD, Aug 17: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has asked the interior ministry to form a three-member committee to revise the exit control list (ECL).

An official source told Dawn that presently the interior minister was empowered to include or exclude names in the ECL. However, the NAB had suggested to form a three-member committee comprising interior minister, secretary to the interior minister and another senior official of the ministry to take a unanimous decision in this regard.

The NAB had reportedly some reservations that the list was revised individually by the interior minister and it recommended for the three-member committee for the ECL to avoid one man show.

When contacted, the secretary to the interior minister, Tasneem Noorani, said so far no such committee had been formed in the ministry. However, he confirmed that presently the ECL was revised individually by the interior minister.

The official said that he had no information about the NAB’s recommendations regarding changes in the ECL policy.

Elaborating the present procedure of removal and insertion of names in the ECL, Mr Noorani said the ECL was revised on the recommendations of various departments.

He said different departments submitted their recommendations to the interior ministry regarding induction and removal of names in the ECL and under the light of their recommendations the list was revised.

An official of the NAB neither denied nor confirmed about the NAB’s recommendations regarding formation of a committee on the ECL. “As the official spokesman of the bureau is out of the country, nobody in the NAB can give you any information on the issue,” he said.