WASHINGTON, March 27: The decision to revoke a US visa issued earlier to Senator Sanaullah Baloch had nothing to do with the government of Pakistan, the US State Department said on Monday. “We re-emphasise that we did not do this at the request of the Pakistan government,” a State Department official, Len Scensny, told Dawn. “It was an independent decision based on information we received about him.” Mr Baloch was invited by the State Department to attend a programme on government accountability scheduled for March 27 and was even issued a US visa.

But US officials recently told Mr Baloch that his invitation has been cancelled and his visa revoked. Initially, the State Department said that a “withdrawal in funding” had forced the programme to be scaled back and that’s why Mr Baloch could no longer be invited to the US. But later a State Department spokesperson said the problem was not funding but some new information received by the department after issuing the visa that “led us to believe he was not eligible for a visa.” She declined to elaborate.

On Monday, the State Department issued an official statement explaining that Senator Baloch had been issued a visa in preparation for an international visitors programme.

“After he was accepted, we received information that led us to believe he was not eligible for a US visa. So the visa was revoked,” the statement said.