ISLAMABAD, Oct 26: Most of the big multinational companies (MNCs) in the energy sector have called back their expatriate employees to Pakistan following realization that law and order situation was normal.

They were evacuated last month from here soon after Sept 11 attacks in the United States amid concern that US retaliatory attacks and reaction from the masses could threaten their lives.

The executives and expatriate employees of exploration and development companies like OMV, Lasmo, Premier, BP/UTP, Occidental Petroleum and services companies Schlumberger and GCC have already returned to offices in Karachi and Islamabad. Senior officers of BHP of Australia and Petronas of Malaysia had not come as yet, official sources said.

Earlier, these expatriate employees, most of them executives, had gone to the offices of their parent organizations in Western capitals but started sending bills to the joint venture partners in Pakistani projects.

In most of the cases, the federal government or some state-owned Pakistani companies, being the joint venture partners, took it in bad taste that while the executives had left Pakistan at a difficult time for their own security, they had no right to charge their expenses or salaries from abroad.

The ministry of petroleum formally wrote a letter to all the companies to send their expartiate employees back.