PESHAWAR, Aug 2: The Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly, Maulana Fazlur Rahman, has termed his deportation from Dubai an unwarranted step and denied that he had been blacklisted by the Gulf State.

“I don’t expect such treatment from one of our close friends and an Islamic country. I have never faced such a situation in Europe or in any other country,” Maulana Fazl said. Looking fresh and relaxed despite his ordeal at the Dubai Airport, the Maulana told newsmen soon after his arrival here on Tuesday morning that Pakistan should take up the matter with the UAE authorities. “The attitude of the UAE government is highly condemnable,” he said.

“I don’t know why they treated me like that. I am a senior politician, an elected member of parliament, was chairman of the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs Committee and at present hold the office of the leader of opposition in the National Assembly. Despite that I was refused entry by the Dubai authorities”.

He said that the government of Pakistan should lodge a formal protest with the UAE government. Maulana Fazl, who is also general secretary of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA), was briefly detained at the Dubai airport on Monday and deported on Tuesday. He faced an embarrassing situation after arriving in Dubai from Libya.

He had planned to proceed to Saudi Arabia to attend a conference of Rabita Alam Islami. The UAE immigration staff stopped him from leaving the airport although he possessed legal travel documents, Maulana Fazl claimed. He said that before he proceeded to Libya he had been given a visa by the UAE embassy.

Officials of the Pakistani mission in Dubai arrived at the airport to resolve the matter. After their talks with UAE officials he was allowed to go to a hotel, he said.

However, a few hours later the authorities came to the hotel and took him back to the airport. He said that the UAE government had asked him to leave Dubai without giving any reason.

“I will not take it as a personal issue, but the government should take up the matter with the UAE authorities”, he remarked. He said that he had informed the Speaker of the National Assembly about his trip to Libya, although it was a private visit. When asked about a statement by the Federal Minister for Information Sheikh Rashid Ahmad that he had been blacklisted by the UAE government, an angry Maulana Fazl said: “On what ground will they blacklist me. I have got nothing to hide and have a big role in politics. Who is Sheikh Rashid? I don’t have to seek his permission before proceeding abroad.”

He said that he had three options — to file a privilege motion in the Assembly, lodge a formal protest or go to the court against the UAE immigration authorities.

MMA’s central president Qazi Hussain Ahmad condemned the detention and deportation of Maulana Fazl.

Talking to journalists at the residence of NWFP’s Senior Minister Sirajul Haq here on Tuesday, he said the treatment meted out to Maulana Fazl in Dubai was the result of the failed foreign policy of the government.

He said the government had failed to provide protection to its nationals in the country and abroad, adding that the government should take up the issue with the UAE at the highest level.

He said that the MMA would formulate its line of action after getting basic facts.

Regarding expulsion of foreign students from seminaries in the country, he said the MMA would convene a conference for protection of seminaries and the alliance might launch a protest movement.

Replying to question about the Hasba Bill, he would give his comments after the Supreme Court’s verdict.