ISLAMABAD: The federal government has slap­p­ed a foreign travel ban on three opposition party leaders, including sons of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president and an ex-chairman of Steel Mills, confirmed Informa­tion Minister Fawad Chau­dhry at a press conference on Saturday.

The names of former prime minister Shahid Kha­qan Abbasi, opposition lea­der in the Punjab Assembly Hamza Shahbaz, his brother MPA Salman Shahbaz, and former chairman of Pakistan Steel Mills Moeen Aftab were put on the no-fly list on the request of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

“The names appearing on media are correct,” the information minister said, adding that the federal cabinet had only approved the request forwarded by NAB.

Calling opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly Hamza Shahbaz ‘coward’ at the presser, Mr Chaudhry said the PML-N leader had brought women and children forward as a human shield to evade accountability. “The drama that has been created in Model Town and going on since Friday has only one reason: Hamza Shahbaz wants to escape law,” the federal minister said.

Besides using women and children as a human shield, Hamza was attempting to protect himself in the name of democracy and politics, Mr Chaudhry told the media. He said NAB had some evidence and statements showing that Shahbaz Sharif, PML-N president and opposition leader in the National Assembly, allegedly had Rs85 billion worth of assets outside the country and that his elder brother Nawaz Sharif had assets worth $3 billion.

The minister said: “Hassan and Hussain Nawaz claim that Pakistani laws do not apply to them as they are UK citizens. Who knows that Hamza will come up with this argument, too, and claim that he is a citizen of Cuba and local laws do not apply to him,” the minister quipped.

Mr Chaudhry also mocked at JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and said he had been very upset since the day he lost the election to become part of parliament.

He said NAB did have the support of federal agencies and provincial law enforcers, but they did not want to create a scene outside the residence of the PML-N leader in Lahore. He then alleged: “They killed 16 people without any reasons. Now they are trying to evade accountability. There was no reason to resist the accountability process if their hands are clean.”

“Whatever you do, the only way out is either to return the public money or go to jail, [as] accountability will not stop.”

The minister later highlighted the achievements of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government with a promise that the country’s economic conditions would improve with passage of time.

Miftah on `stop list’

According to Dawn.com, NAB is probing Hamza for allegedly owning assets beyond means. He, along with his brother Salman, also allegedly used Rs200 million from public funds to build a bridge near the family’s sugar mills. The fund was approved by his father, then Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif.

Meanwhile, the name of former finance minister Miftah Ismail has been placed on the ‘stop list’, while the approval for his name to be placed on the ECL is awaited, interior ministry officials told DawnNewsTV. The officials said he was scheduled to travel from Karachi to London this weekend.

Ex-PM Abbasi is accused of awarding a 15-year contract for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal against the rules when he was petroleum minister. The case was closed by NAB in 2016 but was reopened in 2018. Mr Ismail, too, was being investigated in connection with the LNG case.

NAB has also requested the government to place the name of Sindh Land Utilization Secretary Aftab Ahmed Memon on the no-fly list. He was named in the fake accounts case and being investigated for his alleged involvement in embezzlement of Rs26 billion PSM funds.

Published in Dawn, April 7th, 2019