QUETTA: A senior leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party and former federal minister, Dr Ayatullah Durrani, passed away on Sunday.

Family sources said Dr Durrani fell ill last week and was taken to the Fatima Jinnah Chest Hospital and remained under treatment there.

“He was not suffering from coronavirus,” hospital sources said.

The PPP leader will be laid to rest in his native town of Paringabad in Mastung district.

Dr Durrani was the general secretary of Balochistan PPP. He served as a minister of state for industries and production after being elected MNA in the 2008 general election on a PPP ticket.

He also served as the adviser to late prime minister Benazir Bhutto for Balochistan affairs from 1989 to 1990.

PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and former president Asif Ali Zardari have expressed their grief and sorrow over the death of the leader. They said that Dr Durrani was an ideological and loyal worker of the party and was a true voice of Balochistan.

They described Dr Durrani’s death as a big loss to Balochistan and PPP.

Published in Dawn, July 6th, 2020