ISLAMABAD, Dec 20: The President Secretariat has directed the foreign ministry to help an old man bring back his son from Oman after he suffered 70 per cent burn injuries and was restrained by the hospital authorities from travelling to Pakistan for being unable to pay the medical bills.

The President Secretariat intervened after Sheikh Iqbal Hussein, a resident of Mansehra, moved an application to President Gen Pervez Musharraf, requesting him to direct the relevant authorities for repatriation of his son from Oman on humanitarian basis.

The old man’s 23-year-old son, Sheikh Qaiser Naveed, was burnt while working in an auto workshop just two months after reaching Oman, where he had gone to earn livelihood for his impoverished family.

“My family is not in a position to pay Rs300,000 medical bill of Sultan Qaboos Hospital,” the old man told this reporter during his visit to Dawn office on Friday evening. “We even had airline seats booked for bringing back the patient from Oman, but, at the last moment, the hospital authorities stopped the departure for non-payment of medical bills,” he said.

Arrangements for the patient’s return and treatment at Ayub Teaching Hospital, Abbotabad, were also made by the authorities, but to no avail.

The President Secretariat sent letter to the foreign affairs ministry secretary on December 15. However, it is not known yet if the ministry has contacted the Government of Oman or its own embassy there to bring back the Pakistani citizen.