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ISLAMABAD: An audit report on Wednesday revealed that Pakistan’s former ambassador to Indonesia Maj-Gen (retd) Mustafa Anwar, who sold the Pakistani embassy building in Jakarta in a personal capacity, was declared innocent on the orders of former president Pervez Musharraf, DawnNews reported.
This particular detail came to light when audit authorities apprised a sub-committee of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the National Assembly on the matter.
The sub-committee was being headed by Ayaz Sadiq of the Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N).
Mr Anwar sealed the transaction in 2001 without getting mandatory permission from the foreign ministry.
The report presented by audit authorities revealed that the building was sold by Mr Anwar in a personal capacity. Moreover, senior embassy official Mushtaque Haider was relegated to the position of an officer on special duty (OSD) for notifying authorities regarding the illegal sale of the building.
Officials from the Foreign Office told the committee that Mr Anwar was closely associated with Mr Musharraf and that the order to relegate Mr Haider came directly from the former president.
The audit report moreover stated that during an earlier Musharraf-sanctioned investigation into the sale Mr Anwar was declared innocent.
During the meeting, the PAC's sub-committee directed the foreign office to explain why it offered no support to Mr Haider. The sub-committee also directed the foreign office to submit details of the issue in six weeks’ time.
